Forest Stray
by The XY sisters
Summary: Sakura had always wondered what laid in that forest just behind her house ever since she moved in. But strangely enough there has been a mysterious black cat sitting in front of it as if it were beckoning her to follow it. AU. SasuSaku.
1. Prologue

Prologue

_"Konoha? Now why would you want to move there?" a blonde woman who was in her mid-forties asked her packing daughter._

_"...well... in order to pursue my career as a doctor, Konoha is one of the best places for that right? the pinkette said as she ceased what she was doing to look at her mother._

_"...ah...yes... I remembered we talked about this..." the pinkette's mother exclaimed recalling the memory. "When does the moving truck come?"_

_"In three days." the pinkette said, not taking her eyes of her mother. Something was a bit off. Her mother looked worried. She was sure her mother looked worried when they were discussing about this not to long ago too. was it not safe there? But she was sure Konoha was a safe place, it was even safer than where she currently lived. Strange. she was also certain that she had assured her parents about visiting regularly. May be it was the fact that they're daughter who hasn't even reached the age of 16 is off to live on her own. Then again, if she doesn't move to Konoha now she won't make it to the entrance exam in her new school. And they even went through the trouble of signing her up. So why the worried look?_

_"Mebuki dear, Sakura, I'm home!" a voice interrupted her train of though. Her father must be home._

_"Coming dear!" Mebuki, her mother shouted in reply. "Come Sakura, dinner's almost about done, help set the table please."_

* * *

_"So you movin' out in three days ey kiddo?" Kizashi, her father stated, eyeing his daughter. He got a nod in response to the question. Chuckling a little he said "Time sure flies huh? I still remember the times when you were still in your diaper -"_

_"Dad!" Sakura cut him off, her cheeks rosy red as she playfully glared at her joking father. She could never really get mad at her parents._

_In response to her little outburst both her parents started laughing. "I'm hurt kiddo, you used to call me 'papa' not 'dad' *sigh~*" her father said as he put on a fake hurt face while his hand was clutching where his heart supposedly was. This lead his wife to roll her eyes as his daughter only giggled. Her father always kew how to lighten the mood._

_"Well, since your moving away and all. I'm giving you this..." he said as he removed the necklace around his neck, only to put it on his daughter's neck. "Now listen, never take this off, no matter what." his tone was not as cheerful as before but serious. Strange. It was just a cherry blossom shaped neck piece. Although her father himself never takes it off, that is until today..._

_"But why give it to me? I mean you don't even buy mom any jewelry." Sakura said as the mood lightens back up._

XYXYXYXYXYXYXY

That all happened a year ago, as promised Sakura never took of the necklace. Though she still wonders why her father gave it to her in the first place. But she lost the chance of properly asking why.

The wind blows as a girl no older than 17 stood at the graves of her parents. Question after question flooded her mind. But the question that makes her most curious was _'Why'._

* * *

**Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto**

**-Y**


	2. Chapter 1:Black Cat

Chapter 1: Black Cat

"Sakura...Sakura...SAKURA!"

Quickly bolting up Sakura found her two best friends casting her concerned looks. The one on the left with her signature hair style, two pigtails tied in buns was Tenten. And on the right was Temari with her signature hair style, four pigtails. Both were in their school uniform, and both who were now casting her annoyed looks.

"You were at the cemetery till late last night again weren't you." Tenten stated still casting her an annoyed look.

"You know very well what dangers there are at night, Sakura." Temari scolded.

"I'm sorry if I worried guys... but you know how I lose track of time. Besides, it happened again!" Sakura said as she gave both her friends a sleepy yet excited grin.

"Oh boy, here we go." Temari said as she gave Tenten a look.

"I'm serious guys! It was tulips this time!"

"Wow, it was daisies the the last time was it not?" her blonde four pigtailed friend said giving her a bored look.

"Are you sure it wasn't you who slept-walked to a twenty-four hour open flower shop, bought the flowers and placed them there yourself?" Tenten asked with a serious expression plastered on her face while Temari snickered beside her.

Sakura gave a disappointed sigh. "And I though you two would believe me." she pouted. The few days after her parents death, some mysterious person had been placing different bouquets of flowers at her parents graves. Sakura was sure she didn't have any relatives (not that she knew of), so that theory was out, unless she had a long lost relative which was twenty-five percent possible but eighty-five percent said there weren't so that theory was also out. There is also the possibility that someone had placed the flowers there by mistake but he, she or they couldn't possibly place the flowers there by mistake every single day right? That theory is also out. Then again, there was also the possibility her parents friends could have done it, but no one is that free every day. So who did it?

A mystery indeed. A mystery that Sakura has yet to solve and it has been a year. She sighed just as the bell rang, declaring the star of homeroom. Just as the teacher, Kakashi-sensei, came in the students had already started questioning as to why he had arrived earlier than expected. You see Hatake Kakashi was famous for his extreme lateness to class, so his arrival was indeed a shocker.

"All right class settle down." Kakashi ordered in his usual bored tone. "We have a new student so please make her feel welcome. All right, you can come in now." Kakashi said as the door slid open.

Walking in, the boys in the class started whistling and howling like idiots. when Kakashi asked them to quite they obeyed immediately since no one knew what means of punishment he might give. Kakashi was also known for bringing that little orange book around wherever he went. Let's just say that whatever the book contains is not child appropriate.

"Hi there, my name is Yamanaka Ino, hope we'll be able to get along well~"the new student announced.

Yamanaka Ino... Sakura was sure she heard that name before. But her memory was fuzzy so she just brushed it off, thinking it was just a coincidence.

"You'll be sitting next to Shikamaru. Nara please raise your hand." their teacher said but no one rose their hand. He must be sleeping again. Shikamaru was known for being lazy. But he was also known to be a genius, therefore he was known as the lazy genius.

Kakashi sighed as he asked Sakura to raise her hand instead since Ino's assigned seat was behind hers. Ino gracefully walked over to her seat as Kakashi let the class do whatever they want. But just before the blonde teen sat down she smacked Shikamaru upside of the head causing him to bolt up and look around in a panicked manner. This action caused his other seatmate Chouji to snicker at him.

"What the hell? Ino?" Shikamaru questioned with a brow raised while he rubbed the sore spot on his head.

"In the living flesh you jackass." said Ino as she stuck her tongue out.

Sakura didn't really pay attention to the rest as she begun reading a novel she had recently borrowed from a local library... 'Forest Stray'... weird name but mysterious as well.

"Hey forehead!" Sakura froze. The whole class's attention was then focus on them, including Kakashi's for a change. No one calls Sakura 'forehead' unless they want a fist to the face. Sakura had taken up martial arts when she was younger (courtesy of her father) so she could defend herself when she got in trouble. That is why she wasn't afraid of staying out so late at her parents graves she knows not to underestimate the enemy either. And it's not like she's got a problem with her forehead (other than it being overly large) but that nickname just gives her bad memories, memories of when she was just Sakura... frail and weak Sakura.

Turning around in her seat to give the newbie a piece of her mind, she was suddenly met with a bone-crushing hug which caused the whole class to go 'EH!?'. After Ino released her from the hug, Sakura got a better View of her. Blonde hair, baby blue eyes... Realisation came to her like punch in the gut. It was Ino, Yamanaka Ino her childhood best friend. The only one who was allowed to use that nickname on her. The Yamanaka Ino that stood up for her when she was bullied as a child.

"P-pig! I didn't recognize you at all!"

* * *

Lunch came by in a blink of an eye. Sakura, Ino and Temari were waiting for Tenten (since she was in a different year than them) as Ino and Temari got to know each other. When Tenten had arrived, Sakura introduced her to Ino and they immediately got along. Now Sakura was on her way home from school feeling on top of the world. Just as she was about to go in she took one glance behind her house. And as always the forest was there with a wired fence surrounding it, on the wired fence were a few 'Keep Out' signs, the paint was already fading off as we speak. Sakura had always wondered what laid in that forest just behind her house ever since she moved in.

It was strange, she knows she shouldn't so much as take a step into that forest but she still wonders. Stepping into her small yet cozy home she shrugged of her jacket and hung it by the rack next to the front door. It was pretty cold for it to be in mid-spring. Yet another strange fact, Sakura thought.

She wouldn't be living in this house if not for her parents. They had helped her to pursue her dreams and lent her the money for the house. But after they died, all their money was sent to her to inherit. She was wise enough to save the money for rents sake and emergencies. As for food and every applications, this is were her part-time job comes in. Turns out the local library she always goes to was the key to her problems. Since she always goes there, the manager was kind enough to offer her a part-time job there, besides the staff there were only so little, and the pay was not so bad either.

After bathing and eating, Sakura came face to face with her homework, which was quickly done. It was an everyday routine for her to visit her parents graves, except on exam weeks of course, and the cemetery wasn't really that far either, but she still has to take the train. As she grabbed her jacket and put on her shoes, she noticed a black cat sitting in front of her porch staring at her. It gave a small purr before running towards the forest. Weird.

* * *

Upon reaching the cemetery Sakura found what she had expected. Flowers. Although they were different from yesterday's visit. The strange thing was that it was not wrapped up like a bouquet. And another strange thing was that it was a branch of cherry blossom. Well, it was spring and cherry trees were everywhere, not to mention the streets were littered with cherry blossom petals, but still. Sakura didn't know why but she feels uneasy and the need to get home increased rapidly.

The trip to the cemetery was a bit weird and Sakura Came back earlier than most of her trips, cause she normally reaches home by 1.05 a.m. everyday without fail and today she was already home by 11.50 p.m. Weird. Walking up her front porch, Sakura noticed the black cat from earlier harmlessly sitting by the forest staring at her with those onxy pools while it waved its tail side to side in a slow motion. Strange things have been happening today,but Sakura just shrugged it off.

As the wind blows the clouds away, a full moon greets them at its place. And what Sakura has failed to noticed was that the black cat's eyes had gone from onxy black to blood red.

* * *

The next morning came fast. Sakura had gone through her normal morning routine just fine. As she ate her breakfast and watched the television, yesterdays events played through her head like a broken tape. Before she knew it, she had already arrived at school. Sighing to herself, Sakura continued reading the novel she had borrowed from the local library she worked part-time at.

School had gone on smoothly, she and Ino got to catch up on each other's lives over the past few years. Funny thing was that Ino and Shikamaru had dated before, the news had shocked Sakura, but it didn't shock her as much as how it shocked Temari. It was obvious that her friend had a thing for the lazy genius. Finding out this little information also gave Tenten the laugh of her life. Literally, she had laughed so hard that she even forgot how to breath. Sakura, Ino and a grumpy Temari had to take her to the nurse's office due to her fainting from inhaling to much oxygen. Like I said school went smoothly.

Sakura had to leave school early for her part-time job. Fortunately she had already completed her homework during break-time at work. When her shiff ended, Sakura had gone straight to the cemetery, but not before grabbing herself a little snack on the way. When Sakura had reached the cemetery she was not expecting the branch of cherry blossoms to still be there.

When Sakura had reached home she found the same black cat still sitting in front of the forest, it was as if it were beckoning her to follow it. Confused and scared she quickly went into her house and locked everything up.

* * *

The following day came too soon, her morning routine, school and her part-time job flashed by fast. After that it was off to the cemetery. Reaching the cemetery, Sakura did not expect two things, one: the branch of cherry blossoms to still be there and two: a mysterious man with duck-butt hair standing by her parents graves and the exact same black cat next to him.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**-Y**


	3. Chapter 2:Duck-butt hair

Chapter 3: Duck-butt hair

Sakura didn't know why her conscience told her to run but her senses told her to stay... Her parents did always tell her not to talk to strangers, so she chose the former.

Slowly, Sakura took a step back. He didn't seem to notice her, so she took another step back, and another. Quickly turning on her heels to sprint, she didn't take notice of the twig underneath her shoe. The breaking sound of the twig echo throughout the cemetery. And too bad for Sakura that the breaking sound of the twig had caught both the black cat and the mysterious man's attention. Her head shot towards their direction, only to find no one there. Strange.

* * *

Reaching the train station, she found a bench for her to occupy while she waited for the train. What she did't notice was that the train station was completely empty, normally there would be a few people waiting for the last minute train along with Sakura, even the guy who sold the tickets was no were to be found. the last minute train ran till midnight and lucky for Sakura she always manages to catch it, after that it was a few minutes walk back to her house. Problem was that she always gets distracted and always reaches home at exactly 1.05 a.m. But strangely she has been reaching home earlier than usual. Maybe it was her sixth sense trying to tell her something. She does not know.

When the train finally came it was already 11.30 p.m. Weird. She was early again. Pulling her jacket closer she hopped on the train to find that no one was on it. Shrugging it off, Sakura took a seat and waited for her stop. Suddenly feeling a shiver go down her spine, she slowly looked around. Still nobody. Sighing to no one in particular she put on her earphones and started listening to music.

* * *

Finally reaching her stop, she quickly got off. Walking down the silent street of Konoha with her bag at tow and uniform skirt slowly swaying along as she hums the music playing on her Ipod. It was a peaceful night at Konoha, quiet and serene... quiet... it was to quiet. taking off her earphones she slowly glanced around...

"Get down!" an unknown voice shouted urgently.

"Wha-!?" Sakura said as her head shot to the direction of the voice. A man had came out of nowhere and shield her from something. She heard the '_clang_' of metal against metal, when it fell to the ground only then was Sakura able to identify the metal object. It was some sort of knife, it looked like a diamond on the top half, Sakura guessed it was a _Kunai_. She only knew of it thanks to Tenten and her love for weaponry (due to a certain anime she loved watching).

"Oi, are you alright?" the man questioned as his gaze landed on her.

Now that she got a better look of him she nearly fainted from shock. It was the same duck-butt hair man she saw standing at her parents graves. Not only was that shocking but he was handsome as well, even with the gravity defying duck-butt esque hair. And this was coming from her, the girl who never thought of any boy nor man as handsome.

"Hey, Pinky are you deaf?" the duck-butt hair man asked. Hey, if he was gonna call her 'Pinky' why can't she call him 'duck-butt hair'?

"Er... yeah, I'm fine." Sakura replied as she adjusted the strap of the bag on her shoulder.

"Hn, good. Now listen, run as fast as you can to the forest. The one behind your house, now!" duck-butt hair ordered.

"Woah! Why should I go so far as to listen to you?" the pinkette argued.

"Tch! Annoying. Find don't listen. Trust me..." duck-butt hair man said as another _kunai_ came flying.

"Kya!" Sakura squeaked as the raven head blocked the attack once again.

"W-why should I trust you?" Sakura retorted.

"... would someone just randomly risk his life for someone else?" that caught her attention. True if she stayed here she would be holding him back. But still... why the forest? She had no time to question as this time a barrage of _kunais_ came towards them along with some _shurikens._

"F-fine I'll go, but I trust you'll come after me? I still have questions for you!" Sakura said as she dashed off.

Smirking to himself, the duck-butt hair man only thought who would leave such a clumsy girl alone. He then deflected each and every _kunai_ and_ shuriken_ with ease before running after her.

* * *

Panting harder with each step she took, Sakura Finally spotted her house a block away. Not noticing the _kunai_ headed for their way it flew passed duck-butt hair man and was headed for Sakura. Cursing himself for not paying attention, he increased his speed.

"Pinky watch out!" he warned.

Quickly turning around she caught the _kunai_ between her palms. Adrenaline rushed through her as a grin appeared on her face. She had just done something amazing and she was proud of it. Although it could either be surviving a life and death situation that made her go nuts of its the dizziness. But still, she caught a dangerous weapon that was hurling towards her and she feels like bragging.

"Oh my god~ I caught it! Hey look I caught it!" Sakura excitedly announced while she giggled like a high school girl, which she was...

"Oh yay, good for you." duck-butt hair man said in a monotone voice as he grab her from the wrist and continued running.

Finally reaching her house, the raven head man let go of her wrist to face his foe.

"Now... you'd better step out of your hiding place before I find you myself..."he said in a venomous tone.

Silence enveloped them as the only thing that could be heard was the loud breathing of Sakura. Suddenly the enemy appeared from the bushes and charged towards him. Mentally shaking his head at the enemy's poorly executed plan, he summoned a lightning blade and sliced through the enemy, only to find that his foe had turned into a log.

Cursing himself for the second time that day, he turned towards Sakura's direction to find the enemy charging towards her instead. Everything became in slow motion as he watched Sakura raised her hands in a defensive manner and the enemy still heading towards her. As the enemy slashed at her a barrier had suddenly appeared around the pinkette, shielding her from the assault. The force of the barrier made the foe flew back a few feet, and in no time the raven haired man was behind him. Smirking, he coldly said "This will be quick and painless.." and just like that the man was killed as blood splattered all over the place, just barely missing Sakura.

When the duck-butt man's gaze finally landed on her, he ceased the lightning blade and kneeled to check on her as she had fallen due to the force of the barrier.

"Hn! No wonder he died, he gave you his necklace..." he said as his heartless cold eyes met her shinning emerald green ones.

Sakura could not really comprehend anything as she stared into black holes of nothingness. Until it finally hit her that she nearly died -twice- if it weren't for his arrogance. The nerve of this guy! And after all that he says... no wonder he died, he gave you his necklace? (she has a great memory) What does that mean? Who is 'he'? Who died? What necklace? Questions after questions came and went as her confusion only increased making her anger decrease.

"Who and wha-what are you talking about?" she asked. He said necklace, Sakura never wore any jewellery. With that in mind, she reached up to touch the area around her neck. And there it was. Strange, so very strange.

"Tch... that Yamanaka... he mumbled.

"Eh!?" she questioned.

"Nevermind. Follow me." duck-butt hair man ordered.

She felt her reason to be angry returned. Not only has she nearly died twice because of him, he expects her to just do whatever he wishes!? Well, not in this life time! She glared at him, hard.

"And why should I listen to you? Nor why should I trust you? I nearly died twice and I'm not so keen on following a stranger... And I still have some questions I need to ask..." Sakura said through gritted teeth.

"Oh?" the oxyn eyed man said as a smirk played its way up to his face.

He was teasing her. Sakura was not only known for her brains and short temper, but was also known for giving long lectures. So unless Mr. Arrogance here wants to play the school delinquent then she would gladly take up the role as the disciple teacher. But before she could say anything the bastard beat her to it.

"Hn. Sasuke..." he said.

"Excuse me!?" she asked looking more confused.

Sighing he said "My name is Uchiha Sasuke."

"Oh... so? Knowing your name does not make you trustworthy..." she said as her eyes narrowed.

"But, we're not strangers anymore" Sasuke said as his smirk grew wider.

Sakura frowned "Wh-!? W-well you don't know my name s-so, hah!" the emerald eyed girl said, struggling with her words as she points an accusing finger at him.

"... Haruno Sakura, you know you're going to lose this argument so shut up and follow me... or I'll make you.." he said as the smirk plastered on his face melted into a frown.

"... I would like to see you try..." she said in a challenging tone as her eyes narrowed once again. She also added in a 'duck-butt hair' which caused him to make his move.

He plucked her off the ground with ease and swung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"H-hey! I'm wearing a skirt!" Sakura said as she felt her cheeks grew warmer.

"Should have though of that before provoking me. And really? Cherry patterned? So childish." she could practically hear him smirking as her cheeks grew hotter from both anger and embarrassment.

"Oh, and don't try struggling. You'll only make yourself uncomfortable and give me a better view of your cherry patterned underwear." Sasuke added as his smirk once again grew wider.

"...PERVERT!" Sakura screamed. And just like that they were off to who knows where she has no idea. The forest maybe. He did ask her to run there a few minutes ago.

XYXYXYXYXYXYXYXY

*Gasp* "He is back!" a little fellow had said.

"Yes, indeed. And he has brought back her." another one said.

"We must report to the Sage at once!" and with that the little fellow was gone in a cloud of smoke.

XYXYXYXYXYXYXYXY

Sakura had seen weird things this past few days, but this, this cuts the cake. When they had first entered the forest she had already noticed it' but she chose to stay quite. And now she feels like pulling it. What is it she's talking about? Well, it's the tail that had suddenly appeared on Sasuke, the cat ears too. Thinking about it for awhile she then noticed the colour of the tail and cat ears, black.

Was Sasuke the same mysterious black cat? If he was then that explains that, but it does not explain how he could turn into one. Was it magic? Like how he manage to summon that lightning blade? She does not know. But she is curious to find out. And just like that she yanked on his tail, hard. It was on purpose of course, she was still mad at him. This action only caused him to stop in his tracks. But only to examine his tail.

"Now, why do you think such an action would cause me pain?" Sasuke asked as he glanced at her over his shoulder.

Fuming on the inside she only told him she wanted to get his attention, not to try and cause him pain, which was a lie, but not completely one.

"Well then, why did you want to get my attention?" the oxyn eyed man asked.

"...I still have some questions I need to ask.." she gave in and answered with a pout.

"Alright, what is it?" this girl is annoying he though.

"Who was that person who attacked me?"

"Classified information."

"Huff... then how'd you summon that lightning blade and how'd the cat ears and tail appear?"

"Magic."

"I knew it! ...why a cat?"

"None of your business..."

"So you like playing with catnip or yarn or a-"

"We're here." the raven head said as he dropped her.

"Ow... forgot to ask... where are you taking me?" the pinkette questioned as she rubbed her sore bottom.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**A/N: I would like to dedicate this chapter to Poppy Grave Dreams for being the first to review and of course those that had liked and followed this story. Thanks ya'll!  
**

**-Y**


	4. Chapter 3:Nostalgia

Chapter 3: Nostalgia

"I see you have brought her..." an unfamiliar voice spoke.

Still sitting on the ground and trying to mend her slightly sore bottom, Sakura looked up to find something that might come and haunt her for the rest of her life. A blonde woman, who looked like she was in her mid-thirties, sitting on what looked like a throne drinking Sake as she stared down at Sakura intensely. Sakura didn't know how to describe the woman's body figure. All she knew was that she had a long way to go (or never) to gain such a... a... marvelous? Seize on the -ahem- upper part of the body...

"Hn..." was all Sasuke could say before excusing himself, but things aren't going so well for him today as the pinkette grab his wrist, a gesture he is not to fond of. Glaring at her with those cold depths of black emptiness, he noticed her eyes were filled with a mixture of pure horror and genuine fear. Was the woman in front of her _that_ intimidating? He then noticed her left arm, the one that's not occupied with holding his wrist, covering her...ya... He feels the need to laugh, he finds this ridiculously hilarious. But of course he keeps his composure, he still has a reputation after all.

Still though, why do women care about their appearances so much? I mean he himself was born with natural good looks. It was a blessing yet a curse at the same time, but it is not like he asked for it. His brother had the same problem, he of course handled it better. Back to the problem at hand, Sasuke had always thought it was what's on the inside. Although, Sakura doesn't look the type to fuss over such things, but her blonde friend Yamanaka does. Well, you can't judge a book by its cover.

Kneeling to her level, Sasuke faked a concern voice in which Sakura just gave him a disbeliving look. Giving up on the fake act, he asked her what was wrong with only so little concern laced in his voice this time.

"For some reason I... I feel like I've already met this women... yet I don't even know her... What's going on?" Sakura said, the fear in her eyes returning as she started to shake.

Sasuke was never really good at comforting people, nor does he have the heart to. So what he could only do was stare at her shaking form.

"...Are you two done? I still have a few paper work I feel like ditching but can't thanks to Shizune here." the women spoke as her assistant, Shizune, cringe at her tone.

"Tsunade-sama I don't think you should be so rude to her. I mean she only just got here, and I think she is frightened by all this..." Shizune said as her soft gaze landed on the shaking pinkette.

"Frightened? By all this and not that arrogant Uchiha brat? She should be grateful she wasn't brought to Jiraya or that creep Orochimaru!" the hazel eyed blonde, Tsunade, exclaimed looking irritated and offended.

"...uh ... um... excuse me. Wha-what is it that you want with me?" Sakura asked as her trembling came to a sudden halt.

Sasuke watch as Sakura slowly removed her hand from his wrist as she slowly stood up. The fear in her eyes seemed to have decreased, although still visible. His got to admit though, the girl's got guts (even though said pinkette was still scared). That's probably the only good point he has seen from her so far. Wow, he had accually complimented someone, he is getting soft, **not good.**

Sakura was confused. She doesn't know what she is doing here and why she wasn't at home snuggled up in her soft warm bed sleeping. But for now, she would have to hear what this women, Tsunade? Have to say. After all, Sasuke went through the trouble of getting her here (against her will), so she might as well get this over with.

"Oh? What_ do_ I want with you?" Tsunade said, smirking. "Well first things first, Sakura, do you know- let me rephrase that. Do you remember who gave you that necklace?" The blonde women questioned, her tone more serious.

"Uh... no..." Sakura said, confirming Tsunade's thoughts. "But I do recall Sasuke saying something like 'no wonder he died, he gave you his necklace'. So, who is 'he' huh?" she asked tilting her head to one side.

Sasuke glared at Sakura as Tsunade glared at him.

"I don't know Sakura. Maybe he was talking to himself... He does that sometimes..." Tsunade said as her glaring face morphed into a smirking one.

Sasuke was baffled. He does not as what so ever talk to himself. He does not even talk much in the first place anyway, so way the the lies? Sly hag... Sasuke's target to glare at immediately changed from Sakura to Tsunade. The nerve of that woman!

"He does!?" Sakura asked surprise, and then snickered at that disbeliving though. The pinkette was slowly starting to warm up to the hazel eyed blonde. It was a strange fact, but after exchanging a few words with her she had already taken a liking to her. Although she feels a sense of nostalgia... Brushing it off, Sakura gave a small smile as she watched Tsunade laugh hysterically at the sour expression Sasuke was giving her.

*Ahem*"...sorry bout' that! Back to more important matters at hand." Tsunade announced after finally calming down.

"So... who was it that gave me this necklace?"

"...Sakura I don't think it's good for you to find out now."

"She's right Sakura-san, it's best if you don't know..."Shizune said as she joined the conversation.

Sighing to herself, the emerald eyed teen decided to ask another question. "Then what's my purpose here?"

"Agh... another good question..." the blonde woman exclaimed and then sighed as she rubbed her temples and ordered Shizune to get another bottle of Sake, in which the said raven head assistant obeyed hesitantly. The woman sure knew how to hold her liquor.

"Right, I'll make it simple. You're here because we're trying to protect you..."Tsunade summarized before taking a sip from the cup of Sake and drowning down the rest after.

"From who?"Sakura questioned.

"...we do not know..."she said.

Sakura was speechless. She hardly got any answers at all. Tsunade sighed as she ordered Shizune to take Sakura somewhere for her to rest.

"Why did you bluff her?"Sasuke demanded after Shizune disappeared with Sakura.

"As I said, it's best if she doesn't know..." the only woman Sage replied. "...oh and she'll be staying with you."she quickly mumbled the last part as she drowned down more Sake.

He definitely heard that. And that definitely caught his attention. That sentence had shocked him to no tomorrow. Why was he not informed before hand? That pink haired annoyance was to stay with him? Till when? And why him? There was a strange nagging feeling at the back of his mind telling him that it was a bad idea. Then again, since when has Tsunade's ideas been good.

"Why my place?" he asked straight forwardly.

"Well... your the only one she will be comfortable with..."the blonde Sage said as she smirked at his sour expression once again. "But do make sure this mission goes as planed, if anything seems wrong come to me at once... or I'll hold you responsible if anything should happen to that girl..." at this, the hazel eyed woman's gaze darkened.

"Tch, tell me again why I have to take orders from you when I work under Orochimaru?"asked Sasuke with a noticeable irritated tone.

"Heh! You already know what of. Besides, he owes me! Now of you goooo!"she said as she made a shooing gesture with her hand and took another swing of Sake... No doubt about it... she is finally drunk...

Sighing, he turned on his heels and walked towards the direction Sakura and "what's her face' had disappeared to. Really though, that woman pisses him of to no ends... but not as much as his blonde, tanned skinned, blue eyed friend though. Sometimes Sasuke wonders why him...

* * *

Sakura was getting along with Shizune better than she though. While the raven head was to bring her to her 'place to rest', she had also given her a small tour of some places around the forest. There wasn't much people due to it being extremely late. It was relaxing really, after what she has been through today, the walk with Shizune had ease her down immensely. There was a problem though. The nostalgic feeling she had when she met Tsunade... she had the exact same feeling with Shizune. Strange. She did not think it was important before, so it could not be important now. She brushed it off too.

She and Shizune had made small talk along the way, turns out Shizune had taken an interest to medical studies like Sakura herself. She was an assistant and an apprentice of Tsunade's. That small piece of information didn't really surprise the pinkette. Again she does not know why but for some reason she knew... she just knew they had some teacher student connection but she does not know how she knew... confusing? She thinks so too.

After finally arriving at their destination, Shizune told her to wait for Sasuke and disappeared before she could even question her 'why'. Sighing, Sakura looked up to find a decent looking tree-like house. The first thing that came to mind was 'cute'. It looked quite big but still, it looked comfy and cozy. When she was little, at the age of seven she thinks, their elementary arts teacher had told them to draw fantasy themed houses or preferably 'dream house'. Sakura had drawn something like this tree-like house, she and a girl (she does not remember) had been praised for their creativity. The girl had drawn a house made of a shoe.

Truthfully, Sakura had though it was a rip-off of that old nursery rhyme, 'There was an old woman who lived in a shoe...blah blah blah' something like that. But that was a long time ago, so she pays no mind to it. Walking up to the tree house? She sat on one of the steps of the stairs that leads to the door and waited for Sasuke's arrival patiently. Although her eyelids were starting to feel heavy.

XYXYXYXYXYXYXY

Sasuke had decided to take a small detour before going home. As he walked down the empty streets of the village, memories of when he was younger flooded his mind. Back then it was peaceful. Back then life was enjoyable. Back then he could smile. Now, it was just complicated and confusing. And now, he could only smirk. Strange? Yes, yes it is. But you can't really dwell on the past forever. And he wouldn't want to think about it much. Would he get sentimental and emotional? Maybe... probably. No. He was an Uchiha so he knew how to control his emotions well, all Uchiha's do.

The place he wanted to go to was nothing much, it was only a dock. Although it does hold sentimental values. Walking up to it he, stood there and stared into the pond, he had done this countless of times when he was younger. It clams his mind and soul... it relaxes him. And after the tiring day his had, this was exactly what he needed.

Finally deciding to call it a day, the onxy eyed teen just stalked towards his house silently.

* * *

Upon reaching his house, he had not expected pinky to be sleeping by his door step. She must have waited for him till she fell asleep... Pathetic. She was annoyingly pathetic... mostly annoying... Groaning, he went up and opened the door to his house before bending down to pick her up gently.

* * *

The sun had started raising as dawn came to. The head of the pinkette slowly arose as the sunrays hit her. Yawning, she started to take in her surroundings... Wait! This was not her room. Just as she started to panic, last night's events played through her head. Sighing in relief, she gave a small smile. Sasuke must have carried her here.

The bed sheets were pure white, Sakura noticed. The walls were a bit difficult to describe but all she knew was that they were made of wood. Since they were in a tree-like house, obviously... Other then that, the whole room was just... plain. Utterly plain. Frowning to herself, she started wondering who's house this belonged to. The person must be very simple... or uncaring of home decor.

After she was done taking in the room, she slowly climbed out of bed. Sakura then finally noticed she had not taken a bath. Slowly she scanned the room again, hoping to find a door that either leads outside or to a bathroom. Problem was that she only found one door. Which means it will only lead her outside and not to a bathroom.

She gave a disapproving sigh (she noticed she has been sighing a lot) and marched up to the door. When she twisted the doorknob open she had not expected to find a shirtless Sasuke standing there with his fist halfway raised, as if he were to knock.

Sakura had always been the most innocent out of all her friends. She hadn't even dated before, she had also been the most easiest to scare too. So this 'surprise' had definitely shock her. In fact it had shock her so much that she blushed so hard her face had even resembled a certain Uchiha's favourite food, tomatoes. And after that she fainted...

* * *

**Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto**

**A/N:This was a pain to write...**

**-Y**


	5. Chapter 4:Bright

Chapter 4: Bright

The first thing that came to Sasuke's mind after the pinkette fainted was 'Was she that hungry?', assuming weather or not she ate dinner last night. Although, he thinks he saw her face turned tomato red before she passed out. Was she sick? And speaking of tomatoes... Sasuke turned on his heels as he retreated to the kitchen, completely forgetting about the poor emerald eyed pinkette laying on the floor. He had more important matters to attend to... and that was to eat those ripe, shiny, juicy tomatoes of his.

Stirring slightly in her passed out state, the emerald eyed pinkette jolted out of it. Dazed and confused as to why she was on the floor, a sudden realization came to her as the past events played through her head. Feeling her cheeks grow warmer out of embarrassment, she quickly stood up wondering briefly where that no good piece of shi-ahem-I mean wondering briefly where Sasuke went.

Walking out of the room, Sakura was immediately hit by bewilderment. I mean she was amazed at how the tree-like house looked on the outside, but she had not expected the inside of the...tree house?(she thinks she'll just call it that) to look so fascinating. There were obviously more then one floor, about three to four floors. But starting from the second floor all of them resembled indoor balconies, in which were encircling the bottom floor. That was what Sakura found unique.

Realization then hit her once again, Sasuke must own this place! The emerald eyed teen then wondered how he manages to keep this whole place clean, it was huge! Then again, won't he feel lonely here all by himself? Does he have no family? She then realized how little she knows about the raven head... although, she has only known him for a few hours. Still, she can't help but wonder. Would he get mad if she questioned him about it?

"Oh, you're up..." Sasuke said, startling her out of her thoughts.

She immediately turned to the direction of his voice, only to feverishly blush and look towards the ground. He was still damn shirtless! Ino would most definitely ask her to jump him if she were here, or better yet jump him herself. Luckily she wasn't here... Wait... Ino... SCHOOL! She completely forgot!

Snapping her gaze off the floor, Sakura locked eyes with Sasuke. As she did so, she desperately tried not to look at his shirtless form, and asked "What time is it!?"

He stayed silent for awhile as he stared at her weirdly before answering 8.30 a.m. which caused her to panic, she was late. Before she ran off, the onxy eyed teen questioned "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm gonna' get ready for school, duh!" she replied. She had no time for this...

"And who says you're going." Sasuke stated calmly while he crossed his arms.

"W-what!? I said so!" the still flushed pinkette sputtered out. She was getting highly annoyed at him... and distracted... "An-and could you put on a shirt already! Geez..."

The onxy eyed raven head rose a brow. "Oh?" he smirked as her cheeks reddened. This is getting interesting. Most girls would kill to see him like this. "Now why would I do that?" Oh how how loves messing with this girl.

"Heh? Do-don't change the subject! You bastard! W-why ca-can't I go to school!?"she sputtered out again, trying to calm her nerves.

Sasuke sighed, the smirk completely disappeared. "Okay look, have you completely forgotten what happened to you yesterday? You can't go to school unprotected so stop being annoying..." he said, ignoring the 'bastard' part in her sentence.

"Annoying?" Sakura asked with a shock expression. But before she could start giving him a piece of her mind, loud knocking from the front door stopped her. The raven head sighed and rubbed his temples, before he_ finally_ put on a shirt and stalked towards the front door with a curious Sakura peering behind.

The Uchiha knew who it was, do not ask how but he just _knew._Forsome strange unfair reason he had a sixth sense of knowing who that one particular person at the door was. He just doesn't know why he even bothers with opening the front door knowing who and what was waiting for him. Upon opening the front door, Sasuke was greeted with a not so welcomed guest. With his bright blonde hair, shiny piercing blue eyes and that big grin of his along with matching orange fox ears and tail in tow, Uzumaki Naruto was the every being of bright and cheerful...and the vain of Sasuke's existence. Unfortunately the blonde idiot was his best friend, or he would have killed him by now. Why he has to put up with him? He too has no idea.

Most people would assume that the two were fighting when they would get into their daily arguments...well most people who don't know the two. Should anybody around their little village encounter the two teens in the middle of their fight would only walk by as if it were an every day thing to see two nut heads trying to kill each other. But practically the whole village knew who Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke was, rivals, brothers, best friends it depends on ones opinion. The onxy eyed teen still remembers how they meet, by that one particular lone dock.

"Hn. What do you want dobe?"an annoyed Sasuke asked with an irritated tone laced in his voice.

"What!? No good morning? No 'how ya doin' pal'? No what's up bro? You really are a teme, dattebayo!"Naruto said as he glared at said 'teme' with a what looked like a hurt expression. Don't ask how he pulled it of, he just did.

Sasuke wanted to bang his head repeatedly against the door frame. He really did. But that would only give the sapphire eyed blonde the satisfaction of laughing his ass off at him, so he settled with giving the idiot the infamous Uchiha death glare. "Hn." was all Naruto received as a reply.

"...Well, someone woke up emo today...again."muttered Naruto as he narrowed his eyes in a challenging manner with a pout. Again, don't ask how he did it, he just does.

"If you came here for nothing then-"

"W-wait! I'm sorry just hear me out !"Naruto quickly sputtered out, just as the raven head was about to slam the door in his face.

"Hn. Speak." Sasuke demanded.

"...aren't ya gonna' invite me in first?"

"Good-bye Naruto-"Sasuke said as he once again tried to slam the door on his blonde friend but got cut off again.

"Alright!Alright! Sheesh teme... Okay, so here's the thing... there's this girl-"

"Female Hyuuga? You're kidding me right? You're asking_me_ for advice on how to ask a girl out? That's what you came here for?" Sasuke said as it was his turn to cut him off.

"You're the chick-magnet!"the sapphire eyed teen yelled, frustrated obviously.

"Dobe, I have no experience with girls..."Sasuke exclaimed as he rubbed his temples.

"Then who in the name of the Kyuubi is that!?" the blonde questioned, finger pointing towards the direction of Sakura who was curiously peering at them both.

"...Naruto that's-"too late Sasuke.

"HOLY SAGE OF SIX PATHS! YO-YOU... YOU BANGED SOMEONE AN-"poor Naruto could not finish his sentence as someone's shoe (not Sasuke's, unfortunately) came hurling towards his face. It knocked him of balance making him fall backwards and knock his head on the ground, hard. Sasuke cringed as he heard a 'thud' sound emitting from the blonde as he connected with the ground.

Walking forward towards the door, Sakura joined Sasuke to stare at the unconscious form of the once happy-go-lucky blonde known as Uzumaki Naruto. Nodding in satisfaction at her work, she picked up her deadly shoe and turned towards the onxy eyed teen with an innocent smile plastered on her face. Sasuke silently stared at her petite form and briefly wondered how her small frame carried such brutal strength. His gaze then travelled to the shoe she was holding and then it landed on Naruto's unconscious body... Sasuke then made a mental note not to underestimate her or shoes anymore.

Although the problem of shutting up the loud blonde was solved, Sakura had another problem; if she were to take a bath then the problem of clean clothes came to mind. Then again Mr. Pussy-cat didn't give her a chance to pack, nor did he give her a choice in refusing the 'kind' offer of coming to the forest. Not to mention Tsunade or Shizune didn't give her a choice in say of staying in le' hotel Sasuke at all!

"What's wrong?"Sasuke asked oh so concerned tone (pronounced as:**unconcerned**).

"Well, I don't have any clean clothes with me, so I can't really take a bath."the pinkette said as she wore back her shoe she used to hit the loud mouth blonde with.

"Aa..."the raven head said? As he bent down to his unconscious blonde friend by his porch. Sakura watched in confusion as Sasuke raised his hand and smacked Naruto across the head. The blonde teen slowly stirred in his unconscious state. His head slowly turned towards the direction of Sasuke. He then bolted up and grabbed Sasuke by the collar of his shirt and started yelling. The emerald eyed teen only stared at the shouting sapphire eyed blonde with narrowed eyes.

"TEME! Was that really necessary!?"Naruto shouted in his face.

"Okay, first of all it wasn't me knocked you unconscious, even though I wanted to, but the culprit was pinky over there. Second, could you take us to that Hyuuga girl you obviously have taken a liking to?"Sasuke calmly said without missing a beat as he pried Naruto's hands off him.

Naruto stared at him with wide sapphire eyes, the was probably the longest sentence his mostly mute friend has ever said. And Naruto has been with him for a _very _long time. "What da' ya want with my boo?"a very shocked Naruto asked. "...and wow... that's probably the most I've heard you say... I think..."he added as his grip on Sasuke loosened and fell limp to his side.

Sasuke grunted as a reply and mentally cringed at the weird 'boo' nickname the blonde came up for the shy Hyuuga heiress. Sasuke could picture as Naruto called her that and she would only faint from the shock and embarrassment. The onxy eyed teen then stood to his full height and glanced back to a very confused looking Sakura. He gestured for her to come over, which she did obediently and stood by his side, looking as the blonde's facial expression morphed from shocked to confusion.

"Dobe, this is the girl the old hag sent me to get." Sasuke said as he jerked his thumb towards the pinkette.

"Oh~Hi Sakura-chan! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!"he said as he flashed her a blinding grin and stuck his hand out for a handshake.

Sakura sent a wary glance at his out stretched hand. Since when did they get comfortable with each other to the point were he would add a 'chan' behind her name, and her last name no less. "Oh...hi to you to Naruto. Uh sorry about the shoe..."she finished with an uneasy smile and shook his hand. Later then wondering how he knew her name when Sasuke failed to mention it.

"So! Uh..want do you want with Hinata-chan huh, Sasuke?" the sapphire eyed blonde questioned with his brow raised, gaze landing on him.

Sakura stared at the hand she just used to shake Naruto's with. A strange sense of familiarity hit her. A somewhat strange sensation close to Deja' vu... was it the same nostalgic feeling she had felt with Tsunade and Shizune? It was more stronger though... Will this happen with everyone else she'll meet with later on? She hopes not. Sakura fiddled with the cherry blossom shaped pendant around her neck and sighed. Her gaze then landed on both Naruto and Sasuke, then Sasuke alone. She doesn't mind, but she does _not_ know why. Why does she not get the nostalgic feeling when she is with the raven head? So mysterious, so confusing. Just like the book she was currently so into...'Forest Stray'. The content of the book was hard enough to understand, although interesting. So very strange.

Although she feels uneasy around Naruto, she strangely feels comfortable around him too. Weird. Still though, Naruto's a good person. Sakura was sure of that, he had a strange bright aura around him that repels negative thoughts and feelings (excluded the uneasiness she feels). He could most probably make anyone trust him with only just a few words.

"Oi, pinky!"the oxyn eyed raven head called, snapping her out of her train of thought. "You coming?"

"Ye-yeah! Sorry..."she answered as she ran to catch up with them.

* * *

The walk to who knows where was peaceful. Oh who is she to bluff, it was chaotic! A catastrophe! A-a 'fox-tastrophe'?! Sakura learned that maybe cats and foxes never got along at all...or maybe it was just Naruto and Sasuke. So far they had caused a fight scene in the middle of village-square, leading Naruto to throw the raven head into a big fountain near by and a very drenched grumpy Sasuke to claw at the laughing blonde, well...since cats hate water... but he was half human so...? The oxyn eyed teen had then tossed Naruto to an old lady's fruit stall and destroyed it. Both then sent a middle-aged man flying. And the strange thing was that the whole village acted as it was normal watching to teens fight to the death. So that should mean a _lot. _In the end Sakura had stopped the two with a pull to the ear. And worst of all, they still haven't told her where the _fuck_ they were going!

All thoughts came to a stop when both male companions came to a sudden halt, causing the emerald eyed teen to run fist-face into the (still) slightly drenched Sasuke's back. Rubbing her now sore nose (Sasuke has a hard back) she looked up to be greeted by Sasuke's smug smirk and dark oxyn-black eyes.

"Hn. We're here."he stated.

Sakura only nodded, dazed. Those black pools of nothingness really did a toll on her. She feels like staring into them forever. "...so where are we?"

"This is the Hyuuga estate!"Naruto exclaimed with enthusiasm as he gestured to the overly large looking estate.

The structure of the estate was similar to a traditional Japanese house (the ones with paper sliding doors). Still they were made up of trees, Sakura was truly highly impressed with what these people-creatures-could do with home-designing.

Just then an unknown voice spoke behind them. "E-eh? N-Na-Naruto-kun? Sasuke-san? Wh-what are you doing here?"it was soft-spoken...

Turning around, Sakura was then met with blank, lavender eyes. The girl 's posture was perfect. It was as if she were raised from royalty itself. She had dark hair swaying behind her and her head was tilted to the side cutely as her left rabbit ear twitched.

"Hi Hinata-chan~"the blonde fox blissfully said as he merrily skipped (you heard me, skipped, he fucking skipped!) towards the lavender eyed girl.

Both conversed for awhile before Naruto called Sasuke and her to come over. The pinkette noticed the shy girl's cheeks were tinted rosy pink as she glanced nervously at the blonde once in awhile. Sasuke only nodded his head towards the Hyuuga heiress as a greeting as she herself nodded in return. Introductions were then made between the lavender eyed girl and Sakura herself.

"Can you do it Hinata-chan?"Naruto asked as his eyes softened.

"Su-sure! I'll need her mea-measurements though."Hinata said with a kind smile directed at Naruto. The scene nearly made Sasuke gag and Sakura mentally 'aw-ed'.

"She can make clothing?"Sakura asked a disgusted looking Sasuke.

"Aa..."he replied looking towards her direction instead of the other two making faces at each other.

"...Magic?"she questioned as both Hinata and Naruto's attention then focused on her.

"Ye-yes actually"a beaming Hinata said with a kind (and blinding might I add) smile.

"Ar-are you sure? It seems so much as a hassle."the pinkette said, staring at the shy dark hair teen who seems to have gained an angelic aura around her.

"Sure! I-I love making clothing, s-so it won't bo-bother me at all. Ho-honest!"she stated, still holding that angelic smile.

"Alright then...thank you"Sakura hesitantly said as she returned the smile.

The strange nostalgic feeling. It came back. Sakura felt uncertainty settling in the pit of her stomach. She knows without a doubt that this must mean something important. But why? Why does everyone she meets give her a sense of nostalgia and Deja vu? ...everyone except Sasuke

* * *

**Desclaimer:I do not own Naruto**

**A/N:Did this take long? Ah ha! I bet it was...Anyway happy holidays!**

**-Y**


	6. Chapter 5:Cruelly kind

Chapter 5:Cruelly kind

Sasuke stared at Sakura from the corner of his eye. She was fiddling with the cherry blossom pendant around her petite neck. And somehow he found that gesture adorable...oh...no no no no no-ahem- Anyway, he also noticed that she seemed a bit off. Scared maybe? But what of? Scared Hinata would tell off her measurements? Not likely... He made a mental note to interrogate her about it later, but now they have other things to worry about.

Both (plus Naruto) were outside of what seemed to be the sewing room of the Hyuuga estate, waiting for the shy Hyuuga heiress to finish off Sakura's clothing. Problem? Her egotistical cousin stood in front of them with a 'holier than thou' aura seeping from him as he sneered at the raven head. Hyuuga Neji, oh how Sasuke wanted to break his neck soooo badly. Other than being known as the cousin of the lavender eyed girl, he was also known for being a child prodigy. Well, next to Sasuke himself of course, but he was older so that pretty much made him wiser. The two had shared a great dislike towards each other since young, although no one knows why... Both were equally strong, both not wanting to admit the other was strong, and both were equally stubborn. They were basically alike in many ways but again, no one knows why they loathe each other. Their rivalry was strong but would most definitely be out matched by his and Naruto's rivalry.

"Er... Hi, Neji-sempai?"Sakura greeted, disturbing then onyx eyed teen's train of thought.

"Greetings Sakura-san, Uchiha... Naruto..."he greeted back as he and Sasuke stared a glaring match, but soon got interrupted by Naruto.

"Hi Neji! What'cha doing here?"the blonde said, grinning from ear to ear.

"...I live here Naruto."the long hair brunette stated as he rubbed his temples.

The pinkette stared at the three male teens in awe, mainly at the brunette with long flowy hair and the same blank eyes as Hinata. It was Hyuuga Neji, the person whom Tenten despises the most. He always teases her twin bun friend and she would not hesitaite to bit back at him. Sakura and Temari would always say that he was teasing her due to the fact that he liked her. She and Temari would then receive an earful on how they were wrong. But the only difference between that Neji and now were the black rabbit ears and tail. And what in the name of Kaguya was he doing here!?

Sakura then felt someone tap her left shoulder. Looking to her left, the pinkette was then met with an uneasy looking Hinata.

"Uh...Sakura-san...You can handle the un-undergarments r-right?"the shy heiress stuttered out as a small blush appeared on her delicate face.

"Y-yeah. I really appreciate this Hinata, thanks again. If you ever need me just give me a call, alright? I owe you after all."the emerald eyed teen said, even though she will have to stick with dirty underwear for awhile.

"O-oh, yo-you really don't have t-"the dark hair teen stated but was shortly cut off by a determined Sakura.

"I insist!"

"O-okay th-then. By the way, how d-do y-you know Neji-nii-san?"the blushing girl asked as she glanced to Neji then to Naruto, which made her redden further.

"...We strangely attend the same high school, Konoha High."Sakura said, noticing the attraction the shy girl had for a certain blonde fox. The pinkette then questioned herself as to how a rabbit had such an attraction towards a fox. Don't foxes eat bunny rabbits? She then recalled Naruto and Sasuke's earlier conversation. So both Naruto and Hinata liked one another...She is definite to give herself a headache if she dwells on the subject any longer. But they would most definitely make a cute couple. After all, opposites attract right? Sakura smiled at that thought.

* * *

After their departure at the Hyuuga estate, Naruto excused himself to go eat an early lunch at Ichiraku's ramen stall, he did ask if they wanted to come along, but Sasuke declined before Sakura could even utter a word. When both Sasuke and Sakura reached his house, the emerald eyed pinkette had immediately ran into the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it in the process. The raven head silently stared at the bathroom door before sighing. He then stalked towards the kitchen to get stared on cooking...brunch.

A few minuetes later, Sakura came out of the bathroom looking refreshed and relived. She had changed into the clothing Hinata had made for her, although the clothing size was a little bit too small for her. Did Hinata did it on purpose? Can't complain about that now though. The delicious aroma of food soon filled her nose as her stomach grumbled , a sign that she was hungry. The emerald eyed teen then headed towards her temporary room and dumped the bag, which contained her dirty uniform and followed the delicious aroma of food.

Sakura then found herself in what looked like a kitchen and sighted Sasuke at the stove...cooking... Sasuke can cook? Oh wow, that's so ho- ah ha ha...ignore that last statement please... The emerald eyed pinkette quickly shoved that thought away as she forced herself not to blush, but failed in doing so. This didn't go unnoticed by the raven head. She mentally cursed at that.

"...what's wrong with you now?"the onyx eyed teen questioned, eyes not leaving the stove.

"Eh? Erm... n-nothing... What are you cooking anyway?"Sakura said as she quickly changed the topic of their conversation. She mentally gave herself a pat on the back as she succeeded in doing so.

"Nothing much, just spagetti and meatballs..."he replied as his gaze finally landed on her form.

There was a pause as he examined her newly made attire... that female hyuuga really knew her stuff. It suited the pinkette. "It doesn't suit you..."he then watched as her left eye twitched out of irritation. He hit the mark and smirked at his accomplishment.

"Well, not all of us have a perfect appearance."the emerald eyed teen mumbled under her breath. Not that his showing off, but Sasuke had great hearing.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"E-eh!? Yo-you heard that? Ah! I-I-I mean n-nothing! You heard nothing!"she stuttered, gaze landing on her hands, twidling with the helm of her skirt as a blush creeped up to her face, making her look like a tomatoe.

Smirking once again, he just shook his head... tomatoes... shit! He mentally cursed himself as he went to check the spaghetti sauce. He felt relived as it was only slightly close to over cooking. How distracted he has gotten...

* * *

Sakura found the spaghetti and meatballs surprisingly delicious... Oh, who was she to bluff! It was the tastiest spaghetti and meatballs she had ever had! She was really impressed at how well Sasuke can cook, or was it only spaghetti and meatballs? Overall she was still impressed. The pinkette could never pull something like this off, she was a horrible cook. Her mother had once told her that not all women knew how to cook after she tried teaching her daughter how to cook, but failed...

"...so what's been bothering you Pinky?"Sasuke suddenly asked out of the blue.

The pinkette nearly choked on the delicious spaghetti. Shock evident on her face as she stared at him. How did he know something was bothering her? Did she let it show too much? ...she can't tell if he is serious or just trying to make a conversation (puh! Sasuke? Making a conversation? No way!). Maybe he has an ulterior motive, or maybe Tsunade threatened him or something. She dosn't know.

'Bingo!' Sasuke thought as the emerald eyed teen fidgeted under his cold gaze. It's not like he is worried though (right?). If Tsunade sees her feeling so uneasy and distracted then the busty female Sage will surely question him. Really, he would rather get this over with as soon as possible. Annoying. That's what this girl is, an annoyance. He has to complete this mission without getting anymore distracted then he already is... even if he has no idea what completing this mission can accomplish.

A few seconds of silents crossed between them as Sakura contemplated weather or not to tell him. A few more seconds passed as Sasuke grew more irritated, and Sakura decided to break the silence by saying "...No. It's nothing that concerns you, I'll handle it myself..."

Oh? Independent was she? Good. He would not have to be bothered by it. Still though... a small voice at the back of his mind told him to press further, but she said it dosn't concern him. So what's the point on pressing the subject any further? Apperently his body and mind decided it was a right time to disagree with each other as his eyes softened and his mouth moved on its own.

"It does concern me. Seeing as you'll be staying here for awhile, why not open up?"that came out better then he expected, and he visibly flinched at how kind it sounded too.

Sakura looked up at him with startled, innocent emerald green eyes. He could not help but stare back too as those green eyes were fill with curiousity. How can that have such a huge effect on him? He swallowed, hard. He then quickly averted his gaze to the half eaten spaghetti on his plate... it suddenly wasn't so appetizing anymore...

The emerald eyed girl smiled to herself. Was he acting? Faking it? Or is he truly just embarrassed at what he unintentionally said. She didn't know he had a side like this, well what da ya know, you learn something new every day. She had to admit though, this side of him was adorable. Should she tell him what has been bothering her? She thinks she trusts him. She then told him about the strange nostalgic feeling she has been having. The strange feeling she has been having ever since she met Tsunade. She excluded the part about not having the same feeling around him.

After she finished her tale, Sasuke could do nothing but stare at her, expression unreadable. The pinkette then started feeling regretful about telling him about it. The raven head then abruptly stood up, and without even excusing himself, he stormed out the front door.

Sakura briefly wondered whar she said and did that made him so enraged. Rolling her eyes at his behavior, she finished up her spaghetti and started to clean up, thinking one minute he was nice to her with the way his eyes would soften and the next he was storming out the front door like the grumpy cat he was. What was that guy's problem? Maybe he was on his period, or there's a stick stuck up his ass he couldn't pull out. Maybe he was a tsundere and refuses to speak his true feelings (this statement is truly laughable. Sasuke? A tsun? What is he England? Ya know the one from Hetalia. No? It's just me?)

She shook her head to rid of the thoughts as her pink locks flew about, she needs to stop stressing about the subject. Dwelling on about it won't solve anything. Maybe a walk will calm her busy mind... it always helps... sometimes..

After Sakura finished cleaning up the table and washing the dishes (it was the least she could do), she made a bee-line towards the front door. She then recalled Shizune, Tsunade's apprentice, had shown her a place that somewhat resembled a park. So she decided to head there. Just as she locked the front door she spotted a mob of blonde hair. Was it Naruto? No. It was long blonde hair... she (Sakura assumed) was conversing with Hinata. Should she head over? It won't hurt to say 'hi' would it? She was curious of whom the person conversing with Hinata was, so why not?

The emerald eyed teen decided to investigate a little as she headed over to where they were. On her way there, she thought on how Temari, Tenten and Ino would worry about her as she didn't attend school today. She then smiled. Her friends could be too overdramatic sometimes, especially Tenten. What if they thought she got kidnapped when she was out to visit her parents graves? Report to the police. That's what they'll do if they got too worried. That is why Sakura said they could be too overdramatic sometimes, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

Sakura stopped in her tracks as Hinata greeted her with an angelic smile and she in turn returned it with her own smile. The blonde seemed to take notice of her presence too as she cranned her neck to Sakura's direction. The blonde girl... it was Ino... and just like that everything went black.

* * *

Sasuke was seething. Everyone witness to this immediatly got out of the way as he marched passed them with a murderous aura surrounding him. Everyone _knows_ not to mess with him when he was angry. _Especially _when he is angry. He didn't think the mission was _this _troublesome. And to top it all of things did not, I repeat, **did not **go as planned. Nope, it did not! So now the fuming raven head was headed towards Tsunade's palace (yes palace) angrier than usual.

He didn't even bother listening to... what's her face, Shizune? Oh who cares! What's important is that she, _she _tried to stop _him, _Uchiha Sasuke, the all mighty and powerful Uchiha Sasuke from entering Tsunade's office, also known as the throne room. He completely ignored her as he kicked the door to the throne room open to find all three Sages present in the room... Shizune did say the blonde hag was was having a meeting... but she didn't say with who. So Sasuke was definitly shock to see all three of The Holy Sages present in one room.

The Three Holy Sages or The Legendary Sannin were protecters of this forest, there was once only one leader or protecter of the forest, known as the Hokage. But due to his recent pass, the elders decided to chose from the three and that didn't end so well... Unfortunately Orochimaru, the Sage of snakes was a power hungry man, he wanted the tittle of Hokage while the other two had no interest. But both disagreed of Orochimaru becoming the Hokage. Reason for it is uncertain, but from what Sasuke has heard both didn't trust his mentor as they feared his lust for power would blind him from what's really important . Thus it resulted into a war, the forest was divided into three as they fought for the tittle of Hokage. Why are Tsunade, the Sage of slugs and Jiraya, Sage of frogs not working together to defeat Orochimaru? Well, they say is because they had a disagreement of something of upmost importance but they never said what of. The war was put to a stop as another formidable foe apeared.

By some unknown reason, the Nine Tailed Fox or what most people call the Kyuubi had suddenly been summoned from an unknown force. This resulted in the forest's destruction. Fortunately, a man who goes by the name of Namikaze Minato managed to seal the beast within his own son, trusting he can control the power of the Tailed beast. And the man's son so happens to be Uzumaki Naruto. Not only did Naruto managed to control the beast's power, but he also managed to befriend it. The Hokage tittle was then offered to Minato, the saviour of the forest. Much to Orochimaru's dismay, The Three Holy Sages now work under him. Surprisingly Jiraya was once Minato's mentor, and now he works under him. Personally Sasuke thought it was pathetic. But the old man only laughed and said he couldn't be any more prouder and was honered to mentor the fourth Hokage's idiot of a son.

Oh, he forgot to mention Naruto was also in the room.

"Ah! Sasuke yo-"Naruto started but got cut of by Jiraya, the one on the left with spiky white hair.

"Long time no see young Uchiha!"the old man greeted with a grin. Jiraya, Sage of frogs, a carefree perverted old man with no self respect what so ever. He was notorious for peeking at local hot springs, peeking at women of course... while they were nude. This made Naruto give him a suitable nickname, 'Pervy Sage'. The blonde then got scolded by his mother, Kushina, for being disrespectful. But despite being a total pervert, he has his moments. Jiraya was the first of the three to master the sage arts, even Sasuke has to admit was pretty impersive.

The raven head's gaze then landed on his mentor to the right. "What brings you here Sasuke?"Orochimaru, Sage of snakes queationed, dragging out the 'S'es in his name. His apprentice slash assistant, Kabuto, stood by his side, face nonchalant as he pushed up his spectacles. The snake-like man was so power hungry to the point where he had gone and tried to master all the spells in the Great Book Of Spells. Naruto had once questioned him as to why he had wasted his free time trying to master the spells instead of looking for a wife. The blonde then received a smack to the head and a long lecture of mannerism from his nagging mother. Although power hungry, he really did master all the spells in the Great book, Sasuke respected him that way. But Orochimaru does scare him somtimes with the length of his tongue.

And then there was Tsunade, Sage of slugs. The busty old hag who looks too young for her own age. She had a fierce temper and monstrous strength that was not to be messed with. Trust me, anger her and you will wake up the next morning (_if _you can wake up) with your body piercing the trees like a sheeshkabob. Naruto had commented on her age and appearance once and got sent to the hospital in less then a minute. This time the beating wasn't from his mother, but Tsunade herself. Other then having a fierce temper and monstrous strength, she was very well skilled in the arts of healing and was the smartest out of the three.

"What is the meaning of this!?"the onyx eyed teen growled.

"What are you talking about? We ain't gambl-"Tsunade tried to defend but was shortly cut off by the fuming onyx eyed raven head.

"I'm not referring to that! I'm referring to Sakura!"he hissed, eyes norrowing dangerously.

"Oh...what about her?"the hazel eyed blonde questioned.

The room was silent. All the attention was focused on Sasuke as he tried to calm his anger. His hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly before he spoke. "She syas she has been having strange nostalgic feelings with whom ever she meets... starting from you..."

Jiraya and Orochimaru shared a look as Naruto questioned Sasuke about what he just said.

"Kotetsu! Izumo!"she called.

"She's mad..."Naruto and Jiraya simultaneously said as they vissably gulped. Orochimaru, Kabuto, Shizune and Sasuke could only nod in agreement while they watch the female Sage repeatedly tap her foot on the ground as a vein appeared on her forehead.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."two fellows appeared before her with their heads bowed.

"What took you so long!?"the blonde woman questiond.

Both grimced at her sharp tone and shared a look as they tried to speak, but was cut off by an impatient Tsunade.

"You know what, nevermind! Get me Yamanaka Ino, NOW!"Tsunade roared making every one in the room cringe, except Sasuke and Orochimaru.

And just on que the double doors opened to reveal said girl with a ponytail and a worried looking lavender eyed Hyuuga heiress. But before any of the two could say anything, Tsunade had already started to interrogate the newly arrived blonde.

"What did you do!?"an enraged hazel eyed blonde questioned.

"Eh?"Ino said, looking very shocked.

"You were to permanently erase us from Sakura's memory until everything is in place. Am I correct!?"

"Yes, but Tsunade-sa-"

"Then why did Uchiha say she has little reminders of nostalgia when meeting us all!"

"Wha-"she started as she glanced at the raven head. "... i-it's harder than it looks! Besides, I can't permanently erase us from her memory due to the necklace! And Tsuna-"

"But if she doesn't wear the necklace then _they _will know her whereabouts!"

"Ugh! That necklace's magic is blocking me out from doing so! It's just _that _powerful Tsunade-sama!"

The blonde female Sage sighed as she rubbed her temples, an indication of an upcoming headache. "Just don't let her remember too much... am I understood!"

"Yes ma'am."the baby blue eyed blonde replied as she cringed from Tsunade's tone.

Just then, Sasuke excused himself as he walked out the double doors. Hinata then spoke up. "Em... ano... Tsunade-sama?"

Said blonde nodded for her to continue. "S-Sakura-san fa-fainted..."she said as she started twidling her thumbs.

XYXYXYXYXYXY

Sakura was shocked. There stood her twelve year old-self laughing... at something a twelve year old Naruto? Said. Why was she with Naruto? ...is that Hinata? What was she doing with both of them? Naruto doesn't have his fox ears and tail, Hinata seems to be missing her rabbit ears and tail too. All three were walking down a street surrounded by lights and a claming atmosphere. Wasn't this the village its self?

She stared at how well she got along with them. Just as she was about to reach out, she woke up.

XYXYXYXYXYXY

She was panting, sweat was trickling down her forehead as she tried to regain her bearings. What was with that dream?

"Oh, you're finally awake."Sakura's head shot to the direction of the deep voice to find an unamuse looking Sasuke staring back at her.

"How long..."she mumbled.

"...just a few hours..."the raven head replied. "Oh... and I brought you some of your clothes..."he said as he handed her the bag sitting beside him.

She smiled at him as she retrieved the bag, saying a 'thank you' as she did so. Both were silent as Sakura noticed she was in her temporary room in Sasuke's house. How did she get here? She doesn't know...

"Hey, Sasuke? ...you packed my undergarments too... how? Did you- nevermind..."

In which he replied with a simple "Hn."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: ...yeah... this only took long because of school. Please forgive me and my horrible writing along with my long updates. Do me a kind favour and hit that review button to share your thoughts. Thank you for reading and sparing your time!**

**-Y**


	7. Chapter 6:An Obvious Surprise

Chapter 6: An Obvious Surprise

_"..."_

_Everyone present in the room was silent as they watched for the hazel eyed blonde's reaction. As fearful of Tsunade's wrath Naruto, Ino and Hinata were, they were also extremely worried for their emerald eyed friend. She had fainted immediately upon laying witness to Ino's pressence and said blonde was already blaming herself for not taking more precaution. The reason as to why the pinkette blacked out was still a mystery, but Ino could bet her Jimmy Choo's shoe collection thet it had something to do with that troublesome thing around Sakura's neck, that damned necklace. But what could they do? The neck piece played a very important role in all this._

_They all heard Orochimaru sigh as he then chuckled and said "My, my Tsunade, you sure got your hands full nlow don't you?"in which said blonde simply responded by giving him a warning glare, the snake like man's amused smirk only grew._

_"I think he means 'if you're unable to handle this by yourself then you've always got us'... right,_ Orochimaru?"_Jiraya__ said, trying to send a silent message to the man as he nervously glanced at the busty blonde before sending Orochimaru his own glare._

_"Far from it fool. If she really wants my help then payment is required."he retorded as he gave an amused chuckle at both their heated glares (what a sadist...)._

_Another round of silence consumed them as the three teens cautiously glanced between The Three Sages with a nervous looking Shizune, Kotetsu and Izumo while an indifferent looking Kabuto stood by Orochimaru, all observing the current situation silently. That was until Tsunade smirked, she then gave a dry, humourless laugh and said "Screw you two! I'll handle this myself!"_

_Both male Sages only stared at her, shocked and wide eyed. But why should they be surprised? Wasn't this how Tsunade always acted? Didn't she _always _pulled stunts like this? They both watched as she stood to her full height and left the room with three uneasy looking females, two bored looking adults who had something else better to do and a snickering Naruto saying he had to go report to his father, the Hokage._

_"Oh~she shut you up now didn't she!"Jiraya exclaimed once she was out of ear-shot and started to laughing hysteriacally at The Sage of Snakes._

_"...the poor idiot doesn't know she 'shut him up' too..."Orochimaru sighed as Kabuto only nodded in agreement._

_XYXYXYXYXYXYX_

"...Hey, Sasuke?"Sakura said as she glanced towards him.

"Hn?"he grunted/replied as he tilted his head in a lazy manner towards the pinkette's direction to his left. The two teens were currently at the centre of the peace loving village by a big water fountain that was smacked right in the middle of the Village Square. Both were sitting on the ledge of the fountain with nothing in particular to do but people watching. Although it was a nice day out, only so few villagers were roming the streets of Konoha, going on with their daily lives. The ground was littered many cherry blossom petals and a few dried out leaves as Spring's warmth still had a long way till end before the arrival of Summer's blistering heat.

"How'd you get my clothes if you don't even have the key to my house?"she questioned, gaze innocent as she stared at his suddenly tense form.

"...Hn. N-none of your buissness..."the raven head defended, gaze not meeting her's.

"Oh?"she said as her suspicion grew. "I chose not to ask this before, but... the sudden thought of you either rumpaging through my stuff to find the house key or you breaking into my house occured out of no where, and I just wanted to confrim it."the pinkette stated and furiously added a "By the way, of course it's my buissness! It's my house for Hagoromo's sake!"

He sighed. "It's the former..."

"...I'll forgive you if you treat me to some Shiratama Anmitsu."she chirpped with the mention of her favourite dessert.

"Hey, I only did it because I _accually _felt guilty for not giving you the time to pack."he said and sighted her dissapointed pout.

"I didn't even want to come here in the first place..."Sasuke heard her mumble but chose to ignore her rudely yet childish comment.

"Uh...do you know the reason as to why I suddenly passed out the other day?"she curiously questioned as the wind picked up quite a bit, making several scathered leaves and cherry blossom petals raise from their slumber on the ground and go dancing with the wind. But one particular stray leaf decided to continue its slumber by resting upon the pinkette's messy bed head.

"Who knows... The old hag said it was 'classified'. Although, I do think it was the cause of you spotting your blonde friend, Yamanaka, here that you suddenly blacked out."he replied with a shrug as he reached for the resting stray leaf on top of the emerald eyed pinkette's head. He examind it for a mer few seconds before freeing it from his grasp and allowing the wind to snatch it away.

Sakura watched as the breeze carried the stray leaf along with its brethren and some other cherry blossom petals. It was as if the wind itself was mentoring those leaves and petals as they gracefully followed their mentor's instruction on dancing their way to who knows where. They're enjoying their freedom before they become fertilizers for the trees or other hungry plants, was a simple explanation of what she thought.

"I still don't get her reason to be here though..."she exclaimed and then sighed.

Sasuke shrugged once again as he eyed her playing with the cherry blossom pendant around her slim neck. After returning from uh... Sakura's house... the raven head had then returned to the forest to hear that the petite pinkette had blacked out. He then later found out that Tsunade had blown a fuse while searching for his ass- uh... him, searching for him. He, of course, did what any sane person would do when encountered with Tsunade's wrath, avoid her at all cost. But unfortunately for him, she had help. Yup, she sent a search party to look for little ol him, and of course they had found him almost instantly.

The busty hazel eyed blonde Sage had then interrogate him about his whereabouts, to which he kept silent about. Tsunade then made him swear to stay by Sakura's side at all times (she ignored the part where he questioned her about follwing the pinkette to the bathroom), and oh did he swear all right (he then received an ear full after that). A worried Ino and Hinata then lead them to the body of the unconscious emerald eyed teen which was looked after an annoyed Neji and a... person he knows by face but couldn't care enough to remember by name, all he knew was that the brunette always carried a white dog wherever he went, was it Kaiba? Kuda? Kibu? Meh, who cares.

The onyx eyed raven head then promised to care after the 'Sleeping Beauty' as he proceeded to carry her bridal style and in to his house to place her in her temporary room, on her temporary bed, but not before glaring at the others gathered outside _his _house that he did so. And since he swore to stay by her side by all means, he did. When she finally awoke, Sasuke felt as if he could jump for joy due to the uncomfortable chair he was stuck sitting on for hours (he should really reconsider on his choice in furniture), but he didn't do so, he was, after all, Uchiha Sasuke.

And so here they were, enjoying a serene afternoon two days after the incident. Sakura pouted and and looked up towards the sky. "Am I allowed to go back to school? I've been gone for nearly a week!"she said with narrowed eyes.

"Hn, ask Tsunade, not me."the onyx eyed teen replied.

"All right then, let's go!"she exclaimed enthusiastically .

"Wait, now?!"he asked but was ignored by Sakura as she grabed hold of his wrist and dragged him away.

* * *

"Ah, so this is the little missy you mentioned."Jiraya exclaimed as he eyed the small frame of Sakura. The pinkette could only smile uneasily at the attention she was receiving, and Sasuke hated it. Could she not see that the old man was checking her out?! Sasuke then watched as she introduced herself to both Jiraya and Orochimaru. Somehow she was in a good mood, he noted. The happy aura she was giving out made even made Sasuke feel-dare he say it-giddy and happy himself. Happy to the point where he almost smiled (key word: almost). After that thought, he felt sick to his stomach.

Although he wasn't the only one who thinks so, apparently, if you so happen to gaze upon his...' Sage-gyness' of snakes, you would notice that his right eye was twitching. And just knowing that Orochimaru was agitated by a bubbling sack of joy was enough to make his day, he had even tried to hide his smirk from view, cause that would be rude, right?

"Nice to see you again, Sakura."Tsunade greeted. "But what brings you here? Fed up with the Uchiha?"she continued with a smirk. Sakura gave a sheepish smile.

All was well untill Tsunade heard Jiraya's snickering. She glaced over to him to give him a piece of her mind, but all she got was him pointing his index finger towards an agitated Orochimaru. Once she glaced over, both could not contain their laugher at the uneasiness their fellow Sage was showing and proceeded to laugh hysterically at the uncomfortable expression he displayed towards the bubbling pinkette.

The pinkette sent a smirking Sasuke a confused look, he shrugged. In all honesty, he really had no idea what those three stooges were thinking. He never did and never cared.

"What's so funny that's even got you smirking?"Sakura asked, gazing at him expectantly.

"Hn."his smirk widened at her reaction towards his lack of answer. "Aren't you going to ask the old hag permission to go back to school?"

"Right..."she said with a frown. "Uh... Tsunade-sama?"a pause as she waited for the blonde to acknowledge her "C-can I go back to school? I mean it's almost been a week since I've last been there...so?"she managed to question as she nervously glanced at the laughing blonde women.

"Ahaha-wait-heh! Okay, *ahem* go back to school huh? Sure, why not."the blonde said after finally suceeding in claming down. "But, someone has to keep gaurd on you. You never know what will happen, like the time when I sent Sasuke to retrive you."

"...fine..."she pouted. The emerald eyed teen then thanked Tsunade and went ahead of Sasuke.

Once Sakura was far enough and out of ear-shot, Tsunade's gaze landed on Sasuke. "And by gaurd I mean you Uchiha!"

"Hah?! You want me to enroll into her school?"Sasuke questioned, baffled.

"Exactly!"she said with a way too cheerful tone...a way too very cheerful tone...

"But Hyuuga goes there! Couldn't he be her 'gaurd'?"

"Erm, no. To be honest, this is the first I've heard someone say they want to go back to school, not to mention willingly too..."the hazel eyed blonde said, muttering that last part more to herself.

"School huh?"Jiraya questioned, face then morphing into an unquestionable perverted one. "Short uniform skirts, oh-"

"Anyway, two other people besides you will be enrolling too, can't be too safe. Also, Shikamaru attends that school too, so really, you don't have to do much work yourself."the busty blonde stated with a half-hearted shrug.

"And I'm sure by 'two other people' you mean the Dobe and female Hyuuga, am I correct?"the onyx eyed raven head said and sighed, pretty much knowing the answer.

"Yay, free cheers for the obvious, Captain Obvious."sarcasm was obviously laced in that sentance as she smirked at his glare.

"Wouldn't it be most amusing to see young Sasuke in a school uniform?"Orochimaru piped in. In which Kabuto responded with an 'indeed', making shivers run down said Uchiha's spine. The duck butt esque hair man then took this as a sign for him to leave, he then quickly excused himself and went to join the pinkette.

"What took you so long kitty?"a curious emerald eyed pinkette asked Sasuke, his left eye twitched at his newfound nickname and sent her a glare.

"Kitty? I'm only going to warn you once, don't cross that line, _Pinky."_

"Already did, and I'm not planing on crossing back anytime soon,_duck-butt_."she said it with confidence, but she was already starting to walk faster to get away from him.

An amused smirk spread across his face. "Sakura, come here."

"What? Hell no! You're planning something, I know it!"she said and stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'll treat you to some Shiratama Anmitsu."was enough to get her attention.

"Hah~ really?"she questioned with sparkling eyes as she neared him.

"No, not really."he said and poked her overly large forehead. He smirked at her dissapointed pout. She was that adorable sometimes... *ahem* do ignore the part where he said she was adorable, again... Really, what has gotten in to him lately?

* * *

"MY BEAUTIFUL CHERRY BLOSSOM, OH HOW I'VE MISSED YOU SO. THE FLOWER IN MY HEART HAS FINALLY BLOOMED UPON LAYING WITNESS TO YOUR BEAUTY!"a bowl hair cut teen announced, eyes shining with admiration as he knelt infront of her.

"Ah...glad to see you too, Lee..."Sakura replied uneasyly, staring at his knelt form and then quickly beckoning him to stand.

The emerald eyed teen had finally been allowed to return back to school. She was greatful to Tsunade for letting allowing her to do so, a week's worth of lesson was already making her wary of the homework she would have to complete. Sighing, she glanced at an overly joyed upper classmen of her's who had oh so happily greeted her, Rock Lee. To this day, the guy still frightens her with his overly bushy eyebrows and his bowl cut hair style. Lee was a nice guy, really, but he could get over bearing most of the time and Sakura didn't know how to handdle it without sounding rude. He had more than once confessed to her about his 'undying love' for her, although, she turned him down, he still continues to pursue her. Sakura didn't even know what he saw in her.

The pinkette then sighted Tenten and Temari along with a distracted looking Ino come through the class room door and shooed a dissapointed Lee away.

"Glad to see you finally got your lazyass up and come to school, lil miss shorty!"Tenten said with a teasing smirk as she patted the emerald eyed pinkette on the head.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that, Bun bun?"Sakura pouted as she glared at her brunette friend.

"Yeah, why didn't you come to schoolSakura? It has beem three days."Temari said, blocking out a fuming Tenten.

"Er...some things came up..."Sakura said as she glanced at Ino questioningly. Strange. Sakura had been there for a week, and Temari said she was absent for three days...she will have to question it later. Ino only looked away guiltily, making the wonder 'why?'.

Sakura made a metal note to confront her baby-blue eyed friend later as she went to her assigned seat. The bell had rang, signaling the start of homeroom as students quickly rush to their respective classes.

A thought came to mind as Sakura wondered who her suppose guard was. Could it be Neji or Ino? Giving up on the thought, she watched as Kakashi, their homeroom teacher, came into class early once again. And for a brief second, she though she heard someone whining a 'not again'.

"Guess what class, good news. It seems we have more new students, yay..."Kakashi managed in an unenthusiastic tone as he watched the door slid open. And to Sakura's horror, a familiar duck-butt esque hair flashed before her emerald irises.

Sakura sweared and watched as an emotionless Sasuke and a nervous Hinata walked into the room. No sooner did the girls in the class started shrieking like tone-deaf people who were trying to sing. Oh...not only were the girls excited, it seems the boys were getting agitated too. Poor Hinata..._not _poor Sasuke.

The pinkette could not even hear the introductions of the two teens as the volume of her stupid classmates only increased. Although, maybe it was only her thet could not hear the introductions (not like she needed to) as the girls were already calling his name excitedly. Sakura gave Hinata a gaze filled with concern as she watched her blush at the whistling boys and hid behind an expressionless Sasuke.

"Quiet!"their teacher said as the noise slowly died down. "Now, since there are more students here, I 'm going to have you all reassign your seats."

"EHHHH!"the whole class exclaimed, including Sakura.

"... And we're going to do it the old fashion way."he announced and took out a box from under his desk. The hell? It wasn't there before...

Sakura hated changing seats, what if she got unlucky and got seated in the front row? It was a horrible place to be seated at. Teachers always pay more attention to the front row tables since it's closest to the teacher's desk. Also, she didn't really like to be seated in the middle of the class either, every time they need to choose a representative for something the classes attention immeadiatly travels to the middle. Really, not only was it troublesome, but also highly embarrassing. The only seat she would ever have peace at would be the window seat at the back row. It was normally isolated from the class and teachers prying eyes, and a wonderful view to look at whenever one is bored. Yes, the window seat, that would be nice.

Everyone in class got up from their seats and quickly lined up by the teachers desk for the 'lotery' as what Kakashi had announced. The first one to choose their seats were the new students (courtersy of Kakashi) as Hinata reached her hand into the box and pulled out a peice of paper. Her pearl like eyes then glanced to the black board to find her assigned seat. Sakura watched as Hinata sighed and head towards the second row by the window.

Sakura's emerald irises then traveled to Sasuke's form. Her gaze met his and he smirked at her expression. She glared, making his smirk widen.

* * *

Once everyone got to their assigned seat, Kakashi sterted the lessons.

Sakura was not happy, not in the slightest. Well, she was glad she didn't get to sit in the front row and got to sit in the back row instead, but... she didn't get the window seat. Instead, she got the seat _beside _the window seat, and you could probably guess who was the lucky bastard who got the seat instead. Sasuke, Sasuke fucking got the window seat! And to make matters worse, _she _sat beside him, her! Oh, how her luck sucked.

With a defeated sigh, the pinkette turn towards the Uchiha and silently hissed a "What in the name of Kaguya are you doing here Uchiha!"adding a glare as effect.

"Tsunade's orders."he simply stated with a shrug and looked out the window. Damn! That was suppose to be her seat, _her _seat. Although...with the way he was looking out the window with his left hand supporting his chin and the sun rays hitting him at just the right angle made him looked like an angel. Sakura blushed and returned to paying attention to Kakashi's lesson's, trying to forget what she thought about the raven head.

True, he was handsome, she knew that much. But his additude and personality completely throws his looks off the mark, well, at least for her anyways. Sakura had also seen him shirtless (if you recall chapter 3-4), and damn was that an image she won't mind remembering for a while...she's losing it... What was wrong with her?! First she describes him as an angel and now she's fantasizing about how godly he looks when he is shirtless (though, he still looks godly with or without a shirt)?! She's turned mad! Another curious thought hit her as she noticed Sasuke was missing his cat ears and tail.

* * *

Sakura stared at her blonde best friend, she had something going on in her mind, the pinkette could tell, but she didn't know what was bothering her. So when the bell rang, signaling recess, Sakura decided to drag a protesting Ino along with her to the now empty roof of the school. She needed to confront Ino about why she had been wearing a gloomy look ever since Sakura woke up from her unconcious state.

"All right Ino, fess up. Why the glum look?"

"Nothing's wrong, why?"Ino half-heartedly said with a nolchant shrug that almost made Sakura think she was mistaken by her friends earlier expression. But she won't go down without a fight. If her friend is in need then she will do everything in her power to at least get her to talk about her problem. But her friend seemed so nolchant about it, she had to stop to question herself.

"I'm serious Sakuraaaaa~ Do I look the type to get conflicted on things?"Ino said as she allowed herself a smile. But before Sakura could even say her come back, Ino beat her to it. "Don't answer that."

Okay, now Sakura was getting conflicted. What of the distracted yet troubled look she casted this morning? Is Ino trying to hide something? She better not. All the while she was at the forest, Sakura felt as if they were treating her like some precious item, and she hated that. They keep secrets from her, saying it was for the best, but do they really know how it feels to be kept in the dark? Sakura's emerald green eyes met Ino's baby-blue ones, and for a brief second she though she saw her blonde friend's eyes glow slightly.

Ino flinched and looked away. Suddenly, Sakura doesn't even know why they were on the roof of the school. The dazed pinkette looked up to see her blonde best friend grinning at her. She then started complaining on how hungry she was and dragged her confused pink haired friend to the cafeteria.

XYXYXYXYXYXY

"Amusing how the old hag managed to get _you, _of all people to gaurd Sakura."the pineapple styed hair teen mused at the grumpy looking raven head.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping!"Sasuke snapped, but was ignored as Naruto continued Shikamaru's musing.

"I know...it just seems so...weird, and hilarious too."the spiky blonde said as he proceeded to poke his food. The poor guy could not find any ramen around this god-forsaken place. Even if he did, he doubts it would taste as good as Ichiraku's ramen stall.

"Stop poking your food, idiot."Naruto's second mother, Neji, grumbled upon sighting him playing with his food.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his group of friends...or more like 'people he can tolerate' (excluded the Hyuuga, he hated him). They were all currently at the cafeteria with really nothing in particular to do. Shikamaru just thought it would be 'nice' to catch up, so here they were.

The raven head sighed and glared at another person he would have to tolerate, Rock Lee. He swears, if that bowled hair styled freak ever utters anything 'youth' related or 'his youthful cherry blossom' related again then he would personally burn him alive. It was bad enough he would have to tolerate with looking at him. I mean the guy was not the most good looking person. And his eyebrows... don't let him get started with his eyebrows. Who in the world would have such bushy eyebrows...excluded the gym teacher, Gai-sensei. Sasuke shuddered at the thought.

"Ah! Hinata-chan, over here!"Naruto called as he waved at the dark haired girl along with two other girls he pays no heed to. Seriously? Twin buns and four pigtails? Who does that to their own hair? A thought then occured to him at what Sakura nicknames him, duck-butt hair... He frowned, stupid pinky...

"H-hello Na-Naruto-kun!"the lavender eyed teen chirped. She then glanced towards her cousin and nodded her head at him in greeting while adding a 'Neji-nii-san'.

"Eh? No wonder you looked familiar, Hinata. You two are related?"the twin bun brunette questioned her as she glanced back and forth between the Hyuuga hairess and Neji.

"It does not concern you now does it?"the long haired brunette replied smugly as the twin bun girl fumed at him.

"I only asked! ...douchebag..."she said whiled muttering the last part.

Hinata gasped and told the twin bun brunette to watch her language. "Please refrain from using vulgar language, Tenten-san."she scolded, making Tenten laugh sheepishly.

"So, who is this fine looking specimen?"the blonde girl with four pigtails asked as she eyed Sasuke, completely ignoring the other newcomer with bright blonde hair.

The raven head ignored her as Shikamaru sighed, both teens also ignoring the now hurt looking Naruto as he pouted. "Brute blonde, this is Uchiha Sasuke...and the idiot with the whiskers is Uzumaki Naruto..."Shikamaru drawled out as a yawn came to.

"Wha-?! Who ya callin' brute blonde, ya lazy jackass?!"she fumed as the shy Hyuuga heiress muttered a "Language..."and sighed a defeated sigh.

Sasuke glared at his half-eaten (and unedible) cafeteria food, he was getting annoyed, highly annoyed. When was Pinky getting here? More importantly, _where _was she?! Fucking hell! If something were to happen to her then Tsunade would have his head! That Yamanaka better do her job. The onyx eyed teen sighed a fustrated sigh and spotted a familiar looking red head and a brunette greeted the blonde with four pigtails. He immediatly disliked the red head. Why? He doesn't fucking know! Wait, why was he getting so worked up?

"How come more and more people keep gathering here!"Sasuke hissed to the pineapple esque haired teen.

"I wouldn't fucking know! ... Maybe Naruto's befriending power is working up?"Shikamaru replied as both him and Sasuke watch the sapphire eyed blonde make a fool out of himself.

The onyx eyed teen slamed his head against the table as Naruto sighted dog boy and bug boy and called out to them, _loudly. _That knuckle headed idiot! Why in the world would he call more people over... why?! WHY?!

"Woah Teme, you okay? That was a really loud sound you made there."the blonde teen questioned him as he drew closer without knowing the desaster that was to befall on the two teens.

Sasuke looked up to sneer at him, but at the same time, some random student ran pass Naruto and bumped into him by accident. And just as anyone would predict, the two rivals clashed. It was the most comical yet disgusting sight their friends had ever witness. Wide eyed with shocked, the two rivals quickly pulled back and spat to show their disgust towards each other. Sasuke tried to glare at his snickering group of 'friends' with what little dignity he had left.

"You idiot! Look what you've done! Shit, I think I'm going to puke."

'M-me?! I was only trying to show some concern, but no~ I was wrong to have even bothered. Aww, I'm scarred forever! My frist kiss, with you of all people!"Naruto wailed as he clutched his blonde hair. "Why couldn't it be with Hinata-chan~"he wailed some more as Neji sent him a death glare for mentioning his cousin who was beat red.

"It's your own fault Dobe, you shouldn't have called more people over."the raven head said through gritted teeth.

"Che! Unlike you Teme, I'm social! So man up and socialize, ya antisocial emo, dattebayo!"Naruto said while pointing an accusing finger at him and glared.

"Shithead!"

"Douchebag!"

"Fucker!"

"Manbaby!"

"Noob!"

"Why I otta-"the blonde started but was cut short by a pull to the ear, same goes for Sasuke too as both cringed in pain. Their group of friends stopped conversing, wondering what caused the two to silence.

There stood an angered Sakura as she glared at the two. "Watch your use in language, both of you!"she scolded with a scowl and furrowed eyebrows, Sasuke couldn't help but stare. The damn woman had brutal strength, he could fell his ear start to throb with pain.

After releasing both teens, she heard them mutter a "Yes mom."which caused a smack to the head. The pinkette sighed and watched as most people in their group start snickering, included Ino. She then noticed Gaara and Kankuro and gave them a nod in greeting. She also noticed Shino and Kiba and she gave them a small wave and stalked towards an empty seat between Tenten and Temari.

'Fucking finally' Sasuke thought as he watched Sakura and Ino look for empty seats. He pushed his food aside as he had no appetite to eat after that incident with Naruto, said blonde was trying to get Chouji to share some chips. He scowled and tuned everything out as he watched Sakura start reading a novel. The onyx eyed teen then wondered as to why the pinkette had dragged the Yamanaka to 'who knows where.'

They didn't seem to have a serious conversation as Sakura looked neutral, but Yamanaka seems tense, he noticed. So maybe they did have a serious conversation. He narrowed his eyes. What did she do this time? It got out of hand before too, because of her. The necklace's powers, was it that strong? If it is, then they must take more precaution.

They all had a part in this. All of them. Even Sakura's oblivious friends. They just have to find out what part they're in...or it will be too late. Although, seeing as it was Tsunade's 'carefully planned out plan', things are bound to go wrong. Poor gambeler she was. And to top it all off, both Orochimaru and Jiraya don't give a damn or they're completely useless in this case. Idiots, idiots are surrounding him.

"Oi, Uchiha..."Neji called as Sasuke ceased his thoughts.

"What?"he questioned.

"Yamanaka seems off, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah?"the raven head replied with a raised brow and glanced towards her. She still looks tense, he noted. Maybe something _was_ wrong. Normally she would have already started talking none stop, like Naruto.

"Maybe you are right..."

"I know I'm right."Neji said sternly as he glared at him. 'So full of himself' the raven head teen thought as he glared back

Both teens stopped glaring at each other as Neji questioned Ino of her strange behaviour. "What did you do now, Yamanaka."

She twitched, took a deep breath, and faced both of them. "Sh-she was getting suspicious about my behaviour."she started as both teens nodded for her to continue.

"So, I erased it from her memories."she fidgeted under their gazes.

"But?"Neji pushed on with a frown. Sasuke had a bad feeling about this.

"But... I think the necklace might have reset her memories...to counter me..."the baby-blue eyed blonde confessed guiltily.

"What?!"both Sasuke and Neji questioned with startled looks.

"But she was fine just now!"the onyx eyed raven head argued. This was a disaster, a complete and utter disaster!

"I don't know! I really don't! It's confusing!"she cried as she shield her face with both her hands and said "I need time..."

"OH MY YOUTHFUL CHERY BLOSSOM! I HAVE COME-"Lee started but was cut off by none other then his youthful cherry blossom herself.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: I wish to travel back in time to stranggle the person who made up exams. Ugh, I failed my history and chinese exam! So yeah, I didn't manage to update this because of my exams, so I apologize for my lateness. Anyway, did you see the length of this chapter! A little present for my lateness in updating this chapter, hope you enjoyed it! Sorry for grammatical and punctuation errors, uh spelling too.**

**-Y**


	8. Chapter 7:Time

Chapter 7:Time

"Hyuuga!"Sasuke cried as he reached for Sakura.

"Don't need to order me around..."said Hyuuga muttered and did various hand signs to create a barrier around their group. The raven head then proceeded to knock the confused pinkette out and quickly caught her beefore she fell. Well, what else was he to do! That damn thing around her neck practically erased them from her memories! Really, they should have tooken more precaution. Especially that Yamanaka, since she was the cause of this too.

"The fuck's going on?!"Temari questioned before she stood up from her seat to glare at the raven head with Sakura in his arms.

"I'm with her, the hell Hyuuga?!"Tenten said as she too got up from her seat to glance around the newly made barrier around their group. Sasuke noticed from the corner of his eye that the brunette with the redhead had a panicked look in his face. Although, the redhead seemed fine...

"Naruto..."Sasuke said and glanced towards the blonde.

"Aw, co'mon teme! They don't know me that well...can't you ask Gaara to explain it to those three?!"the blonde whined.

'Gaara?'thought Sasuke. No wonder he seemed so familiar... The onyx eyed teen's gaze then landed on thought redhead, Gaara nodded and he too nodded in return. He then watched as the redhead called out to his stepsister, Temari. She in turn, walked over to him with Tenten in tow, but not before sending a glare to Sasuke as she did. What had he ever done to her that made her so pissed? They should know that he is _helping_ their pink haired friend. Sigh, can't be helped, they would have to fine out sooner or later. Stupid girls and their stupid mood swings...

"Okay Ino, mind filling us in on what happend?"dog-breath...Inuzuka Kiba was it? Said and gestured to the rest of the group, consisting of Naruto, Hinata, Shino, Lee, Chouji and Shikamaru.

She responded with a defeated sigh as Gaara and the other three, who were oblivious to the situation, joined the group.

"Th-this barrier... Neji-nii-san?"Hinata said and glanced at her cousin.

"...I'll fill you guys in on what happend, Yamanaka-san needs time to think on how to retrive Sakura-san's memories..."Neji said from his position by the end of the table.

"Alright, start with the barrier-thingy surrounding us..."the twin bun brunette said through gritted teeth.

Silence enveloped them as Neji only stared at her dead in the eye, emotionless and unfazed by her glare. That was until their bushy eyebrowed friend intervened. "I belive the purpose of this barrier is to slow time outside... Am I correct my enternal rival Neji?"he said with a raised hand, like a kindergartener or grade schooler answering a teacher's question.

Slowly shaking his head as he broke eye contact with Tenten, he said "No, you are wrong...far from it accually." He then gestured for them to look out the half-trasparent barrier. True, that people outside the barrier were moving in a some what sluggish motion, it almost seemed comical as Naruto spotted someone tripped and fall in slow motion as said person's ramen began to spill over. Wait, ramen?

"It's the opposite. Ti-time isn't slow outside, b-but fast inside the barrier, right? Neji-nii-san?"Hinata explained and sent Neji a questioning look to see if she was correct or not.

"Spot on..."he muttered.

"Oh~ Hinata-chan's so smart!"Naruto exclaimed and patted her on the head, making her blush strawberry red. Neji nodded and glanced towards the rest.

"What I'm curious about is how the barrier came too..."the brunette by Gaara and Temari said.

"Magic!"the sapphire eyed blonde answered with a grin.

"Magic?!"the three who were oblivious to the situation echoed.

"Okay... For what I am curious about is _you_!"the dirty blonde with four pigtails said, index finger pointed towards her stepbrother, Gaara with a brow raised.

"I am the leader of their neighboring village..."he simply stated, face void of any emotion.

"WHAT?!"both Temari and Kankuro questioned (screamed) as Tenten shield her ears.

"Okay, more importantly, what about Sakura!"the bun haired teen cut them off and glanced warily at,the raven head with the still unconscious pinkette.

"Basically, Uchiha knocked her out because the necklace reset her memories of all of us, and we can't have her running about . Since you all know how stubborn she is, then you should also know she doesn't do well with strangers..."the brunette explained.

"Reset her memories, huh..."Shikamaru muttered and scowled while the others gaped at what the pearl eyed Hyuuga said.

"What do you mean the necklace reset her memories?"Tenten voiced, displeased with the answer received.

'They ask to many questions...' an annoyed Sasuke thought. He can't have that . They were to inquisitive about this and that, even small matters. The Hyuuga and the others won't have enough time to answer all their stupid questions. The barrier and his illusion to keep the outsiders from seeing said barrier won't last very long.

The raven head then sighted Neji sigh and started coming over, obviously also annoyed with the amount of questions they were throwing at him. "Time is running out . Wouldn't it be best if you just showed them?"he said once by Sasuke's side.

"Hn, it will only be a matter of _if _I want to show them..."Sasuke said, scowling at how stiff and uncomfortable Sakura looked. 'The floor must be uncomfortable' he thought. "The Sabaku siblings shoudn't be a problem if I let them know, since they're with Gaara...but I don't trust the girl with her hair in buns..."he continued, gaze shifting to Neji as he spoke.

"I don't think Temari-san would appriciate leaving her friend in the dark."

"Nither does Sakura, but do I care?"

"You're hopeless."

"Are you sure it's not you that will appreciate leaving her out?"Sasuke said with a teasing smirk.

Neji scoffed as he tried to hide the up coming redness of his cheeks. "Fine, whatever. Do as you please."he scowled and retreated to the group. The onyx eyed teen's smirk then dropped, what gave him the right to order him around? He then glanced back to a still unconscious Sakura and carried her bridal style on to a bench before heading to the group himself. Although, he did linger long enough to see her nose twitch, and he, for some strange reason, found it cute... Damn it!

"You three, stand side by side."the onyx eyed teen ordered. Kankuro obeyed but the other two didn't, making it harder for Sasuke to hold back his anger. Why can't they just obey...

"And why should we take orders from you, fine specimen or not!"Temari growled as her glare hardened.

"I'm with her on this again! You _were_ the one who knocked Sakura out!"Tenten said.

"Didn't we already established why she was knocked out?"Kiba said but was ignored.

Sasuke stared at the two stubborn teens. He then glanced at the rest of the group amd mouthed 'I'm loosing my patiance' before glaring back at them. This was no time to defy Uchiha Sasuke. Especially when he is at his anger limit. Maybe he should just let them think it's a dream. No. Make them think it's a dream, an illusion, the Sharingan is capable of that. He might even make them think it's a _nightmare _if they continue to anger him. Yes. The Sharingan is capable of that. _He_ is capable of that.

"Fine. Then _don't _know what happend to Sakura."

"Wha-"before anyone could stop him, he had already trapped the two into a nightmare.

XYXYXYXYXYXY

"..."

It is so dark. She could barely move her arms and legs. It was as if she was under water...a deep abyss maybe. Why can't she remember anything... No. Why can't she remember anything but the name 'Sasuke'?

'Who and what is Sasuke?'she wondered. Why can't she remember? It was so hard, so tiring, so confusing. She can't even identify which way was up and/or down anymore. Which way was left, which way was right? What is the Sun? What is the Moon? What is light? So many questions...questions, questions, questions... Oh!

Who is Sakura?

XYXYXYXYXYXY

"Really Sasuke?! Really?!"Naruto yelled, gaze on the unconscious forms of both Tenten and Temari as the rest of the group could only stare in at the onyx eyed raven head with wide eyes and open mouthes.

In a blink of an eye, Kankuro was already holding Sasuke by the collar of his uniform. Although, he did find it quite a challange, since the raven head was taller. The brunette growled and sent him as intense glare as he said "What did you do to my sister you asshole!"

"Kankuro."he heard Shikamaru cautiously call out to him.

"What!"he snapped.

"Listen, let go of him and get behind us...now."the dark haired teen once again said with precaution as he looked between him and Sasuke. One look on Sasuke's face and he knew the lazy genius was serious, even Gaara was looked shocked. But what of his sister? Debating for a while, he slowly released Sasuke and did as he was told.

"**Asshole? Asshole am I? Heh~**"

"Ino, you done thinking yet? I don't want to have to do this again..."Naruto said and cautiously glanced at the mad raven head.

"Wh-what's wrong with him?"Kankuro questioned, eyes never leaving Sasuke's glowering form.

"You see, there is this guy named Orochimaru..."what Kankuro suddenly noticed as Shino as he was standing behind Kiba.

"He loved experimenting..."Chouji continued.

"...to put it simply, Sasuke's a failed experiment of his..."Shikamaru concluded as black markings started appearing on the raven head's body.

Naruto gulpped "Neji, how much time do we have left?"

* * *

Ino was frantic. She had no clue on how that old man managed to transfer practically all his magic into that small little nack piece, but what she does know is that it was a hand full of trouble. Luckily, she figured out a way to counter the counter the necklace did...wait...what? Ugh! She figured out a way to solve the problem, there. So confusing...

"I'm sorry to have to do this to you again Sakura..."the baby-blue eyed blonde muttered as she readied herself for the complicated spell she was to launch into. A various of hand signs later as she took a deep breath "Okay, one two...three!"her baby-blue eyes glowed as she tried remembering what she had been taught by her father.

XYXYXYXYXYXY

_"Sakura... Sakura?"_

_Her emerald irises snapped open upon hearing her birth name being called. Curious, she slowly sat up and scaned her surroundings. She was in a meadow it would seem, and she was resting underneath a big oak tree. Stretching, she tried searching for the one who called out to her, scaning the area once again, she found a blonde haired girl no older then she was standing only a few meters from were she was seated._

_"Ah, there you are! Geez, I've been looking everywhere for you!"she heard the blonde grumbled as she watched her walk over and settled beside her._

_"S-sorry Ino..."the seven year-old pinkette murmured and started playing with a flower she picked out from it's roots._

_"Hah? Speak up gurl."_

_"I-I-I'm sorry, fo-for making you look for m-me!"she squeaked as the blonde looked at her weirdly._

_"Lighten up Sakura, I won't bite."says Ino with a sigh as she tilts her head back, her short blonde hair falling behind her shoulders. At the same time, she immediatly lightens up. "Guess what? I finally brought what I promised you the other day, you know, to fix your insercurities about that huge forehead of your's!"_

_The shy emerald eye child only whimpered and shield her overly large forehead as Ino gave her a disapproving look._

_"C'mon Sakura, you'll never get over your insecurities like that!"the blonde huffed. "Anyway I got a present for you, so just close your eye, ne?"_

_The pinkette nodded and removed her tiny hands fron her forehead as she proceeded to close her eyes as told. What was the present she wondered. She then felt Ino brushing some of her bangs away. 'What good will showing my forehead do?'she panicked, but as she tried to speak she felt something being tied to her head and then heard Ino saying she could open her eyes now, and she did._

_"Hn~ I did a really great job! Look at you, you're so adorable I could eat 'chu up!"she praised, nose held up high with pride._

_"Uh Ino?"_

_"Oh, you should look at yourself . C'mon!"Ino excitedly said as she began dragging Sakura to a near by pond. "See?"_

_Sakura gasped, her forehead was showing! How will that stop with the bulling? Wouldn't it only encourage the bullies to make fun of her more? She was staring at her reflection in the pond Ino had dragged her too. And right in the pond staring right back at her was herself, the difference was that she now had a red ribbon holding her pink locks back. Still her large forehead was showing..._

_"Bu-but Ino, my forehead is showing."she said as she once again tried to shield said forehead._

_The blonde rolled her eyes at her pink haired friend's actions and stopped her from doing so._

_"You didn't look close enough you dummy. By holding your hair back your forehead looks so much smaller then when you shield it with you bangs, see?"_

_She was kind of right... Sakura allowed herself a small smile towards Ino as the blonde said her smile also suited her new look, making her blush and look down. She was a good friend. Sakura was glad she met her. Ino was the only one who stood up to her bullies when no one did, and she was greatful. She also admire how the blonde always appeared to look so pretty and confident, she could learn a thing or two from her. Only a thing or two, she doesn't want to copy Ino's image and ruin it. She'll just have to settle with being herself._

_And then all at once, that peaceful scene rippled as water would when someone either throws a stone in it or simply touch it as everything began changing into something else._

* * *

_Sakura smells something, was it food? The strangely familiar aroma filled her nose as she tried identifying the scent, was it ramen? It would seem so as she then spotted a ramen stall no futher. If it is ramen then she knows who she will encounter next._

_"Ah! Sakura-chan, there you are! What took you so long?"the whiskered blonde called out._

_"H-hi Sakura."her pearl eyed friend greeted with a smile as Sakura returned the gesture. Behind from where she had gotten up to greet the pinkette was were Kiba with Akamaru and Shino, she greeted them as well. She then noticed Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino, who were arguing with each other, all the same, she greeted them with a warm smile._

_"Man, I also wanted to introduce my bastard of a friend to you Sakura-chan...but unfortunately he doesn't want to 'stick around any more longer then necessary'...dattebayo..."Naruto grumbled with a pout. Sakura and Hinata could not help but giggle at the blonde's childish actions._

_"Well, if he is such a bastard then I don't want to meet him so soon."the twelve year-old pinkette said as she sat between Hinata and Kiba._

_"Oh Sakura, he's a bastard, but he's a gorgeous bastard."Ino said with a dreamy sigh._

_"You into him?"the pinkette questioned._

_"Hell no. Incase you haven't heard, he is a bastard."she replied with a frown._

_Sakura only smiled at her overly dramatic friend and shook her head. She wondered who this so called bastard was that was the talk of the night as they ate their dinner which only (not oddly) consist of ramen._

* * *

She was staring, staring at the sky while wondering why it was so different then before. It still had its irregular shaped clouds, floating to only god knows where. There was no sun she noticed, but that wasn't the problem here... It was the colour of the sky, why was it scarlet red? She felt like she was floating, but on what?

Her eyes narrowed and she winched at the throbbing pain of her headache. Strange. She wondered what that weird dream was about. I mean it was true she knew Ino when she was younger, but was that really how they met? She doesn't remember any red ribbons she had given her. And then the weird dream at the ramen stall. She knows she hadn't meet Naruto and the rest till now right? But the strange thing was that she felt comfort in that memory, a sense of familiarity. She doesn't think she's meet them when she was twelve...how very strange.

And then there was the keeping Sakura from knowing anything game. She was tired of it honestly, she knows Ino has been altering her memories, and that she felt guilty about it, and also she was only following orders. Sakura gave a huge sigh as she continued staring at the scarlet sky.

She suddenly sensed fear, what was it? What was happening while she was out cold? What was causing the fear?_Who _was causing the fear? A single word echoed through out her mind. The cause of the fear she sensed, she knew what and who was the cause of it. She just doesn't dare to admit it... She should wake up soon, wake up to stop him from hurting anyone else.

She has to stop Sasuke!

XYXYXYXYXYXY

"H-hey Sasuke, ya might wanna' loosen your grip a bit... I'm chokin' here."Naruto croaked out as he tried to claw his suffocating-self free. The current situation wasn't going so well as you can tell. Sasuke had a tight grip around Naruto's neck as everyone around them was either bruised, had a broken limb or was unconscious. Ino could only watch in horror as he tightened his grip around Naruto's neck.

"O-oh yeah...that's sooooo mu-much better..."the blonde manage as he tried to breath in as much air as possible.

"**Why do you all hold back?**"

"Be-because we're your friends."was the last thing the sapphire eyed blonde said before turning limp. The raven head threw him aside.

"**Friends? Hn!**"he scoffed as his gaze landed on his next victim. A sadistic smirk played its way to his face as he took a step towards Ino, making her whimper in fear. She was frozen in place, unable to move. Frozen with fear.

A tear slid down her face as she watched him came closer and closer. From the corner of her eye, she could see several of her friens trying to stand so that they could help her. Even an unconscious Hinata was begining to stir as she was knocked out due to being thrown to the table and knocking her head on the edge of it. Ino tried being brave for jer friends, but what could she do? None of them even bruised him. What could her mind-walking magic do at such situations? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact of his sadistic torture, but it never came.

Why?

Behind him Sakura stood, hugging his form from behind. She was telling him to stop. _Begging_ him to stop, to stop hurting her friends, to stop hurting himself, to stop hurting himself for hurting her friends, _his _friends.

He turned to glare at her, but froze upon seeing tears continuesly fall down her face.

Ino watched in horror at what he would do to her precious pink haired friend, but was relived as the markings around Sasuke started dissapearing. He then turned to wipe a tear off the pinkette's face as he then fainted in her arms.

* * *

Sasuke laid still on her lap, not moving, it would almost seem like he was dead if not for the continuing raise of his chest as he breaths. "Can someone tell me what happend?"she asked while keeping a steady gaze as Neji undid the barrier around them.

"...Ino you're in good shape, get Kakashi..."Kiba said as he popped his knee back in place, making everyone around him cringe.

"Sakura-san...can we tell you later?"Hinata said as she tried to mend the other's wounds. The pinkette nodded, wanting to help her dark haired friend but knowing she will only be a nuisance. How could something like this ever happen? People are suffering to protect her. Like she's just some precious object, an object who is a nuisance to all she meets. She slowly glaced towards Temari and Tenten's unconscious forms. They didn't do anything to deserve this harsh treatment...no one does. She glanced back at Sasuke, he looks so pale.

"Hey Neji, how are people not able to see through the barrier? Moreover notice it..."the dog lover asked as he glanced at him.

"...that's only possible thanks to Uchiha and his Sharingan, with that ability of creating illusions he was probably able to make the barrier look like something else to other's eyes. Unfortunately, when the curse mark started invading him I had to slow time down in here, so when I undo the barrier no one would witness this mess..."Neji answered as he stared up at the ceilling, trying to ignore the stinging pain of his injuries.

"Oh..."he said and sighted Ino returning with Kakashi. "That was fast..."he mumbled.

"Kakashi-sensei?"the pinkette questioned with a surprised tone as said man only eyed the broken tables and benches.

"What have you done Sasuke..."he murmured and glanced at a questioning Sakura.

He sighed and knelt to her level. "Don't worry, you'll soon find out..."he said and patted her on the head before retreating out the doors of the cafeteria to find help. The emerald eyed teen stared at his retreating form with confusion taking over her fetures as her gaze travelled back to the raven head. She knows it's his fault...but she doesn't blame him.

* * *

"Man this boy's a mess!"an indigo coloured hair lady exclaimed as she stared at Sasuke's form. He was conscious, yes. But his eyes had a far away look. He didn't even awknoledge his former mentor, Kakashi...

"Let it go Anko..."Kakashi drawled out, eyes-ahem-_eye _never leaving Sasuke.

"Orochimaru, that bastard! How old are you kid?"she continued, completely ignoring the silver head's earlier sentance.

Silence, as the raven head only continued to ignore those around him. Eyes still having a far away look. Anko sneered at him from where he was seated as Kakashi sighred and glanced at the rest who occupied the room. Naruto stood beside an expressionless Gaara with a troubled look. Neji was leaned agaist the wall, expressionless too as Shikamaru was staring calculating at Sasuke from where he was seated beside his mentor, Asuma. All four teens still bearing injuries from Sasuke's earlier rampage in the cafeteria.

"...he's seventeen Anko..."Asuma replied as he tilt his head back to stare up at the ceilling.

"Right... Hey, where's the short girl with the abnormal hair colour?"she questioned as Sasuke's left eye twitched from the mention of the pinkette.

"She's at her part-time job..."the blonde spoke as he held back a wince at the pain around his neck.

"Oh? Hard workin' ain't she? Hm...just curious, where does she work at?"Anko questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"A local library, I think... I seem to have forgoten the name though..."Shikamaru replied as he furrowed his eyebrows in concentration of trying to recall the name of the library.

"Oh! I think it starts with the letter 'A'. Um, Aka...something..."Naruto said.

"Akatsuki's Books..."Neji said with wide eyes, same goes to the rest after hearing the name of the library.

"Hey...ain't there where Itachi's workin' at?"the indigo coloured hair lady questioned obliviously. And with that, it took everyone present in the room to stop the raven head from going in to another rampage.

* * *

"Can't belive I didn't find out about where she worked before..."the baby-blue eyed blonde said as she tried to shield her face with a book.

"Th-this is risky..."her dark haired friend agreed as she too was trying to shield her face with a book.

Both were now at the library where Sakura worked at. At frist, Ino and Hinata thought that coming here would be just fine, since it was just your average library. And oh were they wrong. No one seemed well enough to gaurd the pinkette and the two females were the only healthest ones, so they took up the job, Sakura didn't seem to mind that they were tagging along with her either. All was well until they found out _where _exactly she was working, Akatsuki's Books.

Ino thought the name was too plain and simply made up until Hinata started looking uneasy, that was when the name 'Akatsuki' started ringing a bell. Ino then wanted to hit herself for not realizing earlier.

The Akatsuki's were once known for rebelling against the Kages as thought of their 'ruling' is incorrect. They were labeled 'S' ranked criminals for their unhuman-like abilities and was banished from the Magic Realm. But the coincidence of finding them was just too strong to pass up, this must be planned. Ino would have to report it to Naruto for him to inform the Hokage.

The Magic Realm, it was only visible to those who were either born there or owned magic oneself. Those who were born in the modern world are not able to see nor notice the presence of it. Only rarely does modern world people or 'humans' are able to gain magical powers. And if they do, then only can they see it, but there's a catch if one wishes to enter the Magic Realm. Not many have wanted to enter the Magic Realm after hearing this ridiculous statement, one has to give up on being human...

Right now, both teens were just glad they haven't been found out.

"Hey, when does Sakura's shift end again?"the blonde questioned.

"Around six o'clock...I think."the pearl eyed Hyuuga replied unsurely.

"Accually it's around six-thirty. May I help you Yamanaka-san, Hyuuga-san?"said a voice from behind them as both females yelped in surprise.

"N-N-Na-Nagato-san!"Ino squeaked as Hinata slumped beside her.

* * *

"Oh, if it isn't the Hyuuga hairess and my female look a like, un."a blonde with a small pony tail chided as he greeted both Ino and Hinata.

"Ahaha... N-nice to seeing you too, Deidara-san."Ino said and glanced at an uncomfortable looking Hinata.

"Da fuq? Female look a like? You sure it ain't you who looks like the female, Deidei-chan~"a drunk looking gray haired man snickered.

"What the-?! You shut your unholy shit of a mouth Hidan! Don't make me make art out of you, un!"Deidara theartened.

"I would like to see you try! Bring it hun!"

Ino watched as Hinata tried to block out the bad useage of words as she rocked back and forth. She doesn't want to sound rude and ask them to shut up Ino noted.

"Shut up, both of you! I'm tryin' to count money here!"a man wearing a mask yelled.

"Kakuzu, don't be a party pooper. Ya can join if ya want!"Hidan chripped.

"There is no way you'll get me to-"

"Lighten up, Kakuzu!"Kisame, a blue skinned man said as he whacked Kakuzu on the back, hard. This caused the mask wearing man to lose count of his money and fumed.

And as the rest quarelled, a man who goes by the name of Zetsu was trying to protect his precious Bonzai collection.

"They're as rowdy as always, huh Hinata?"Ino said as she inched closer to her dark haired friend. Hinata only nodded as she watched Konan, a beautiful women with purple-ish blue hair appear before them.

"Hello girls, Nagato told me you two were waiting for Sakura. I didn't know you were acquainted with her."

"Yeah, how'd you two know our Sakura-chan?"a man with bright orange hair, Yahiko, pipped in, once again startling both Hinata and Ino.

"She-she's our friend..."Hinata explained. Everyone in the room 'oh-ed' and resumed whatever they were doing. The door to the break room then opened to reveal a puzzled looking Sakura and two other newcomers, a bored looking redhead and an amuse looking raven head.

"Um...it's our break time..."Sakura said and gestured to herself and the other two behind her.

"Uh... Hi Sakura, Sasori-san...Itachi-san..."both Ino and Hinata said and gave a small wave.

"You all know each other?"the pinkette questioned, trying to hide her surprise.

Everyone nodded, in sync and with a dumb founded expression on their faces. The sight would have been laughable if Sakura hadn't felt betrayed and still misarable from earlier at the school cafeteria. Again, she feels left out, a tool in their ploy. Does she look like a puppet to them? A doll? She hated being kept in the dark. What good will it do if al they do is keep secrets from her. Were they with her or againts her? Nevermind that, what if someone else got hurt? Because of her... were they good or bad?

She remembers how she was bullied and pushed around when she was younger, how her parents told her she was their precious little doll, patite and delicate. Honestly, she hated how people viewed her, how the world viewed her. Maybe she was being selfish, wanting to know what everyone thought of her and try to change their view of her, but isn't everyone else the same? Nobody was perfect, not even god (if their is one). How is there Light without Dark? How can people gain knowladge if they don't strive for it? Greed, lust, sloth, pride, wrath, envy, gluttony the Seven Sins, the world is filled with them, people think the world would be better without them, but would we survive without them? Would we still be alive if we weren't greedy for food and money? The Seven Sins had a part in this world, you just need to find the right pieces and the right places to fit them in.

Sakura frowned, what else did they keep from her?

"How's my little brother, Sasuke?"Itachi spoke from behind her. Ino faceplamed, Hinata looked to the ground guiltily and Sakura glared at both of them.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: Right, I was lazy to check my spelling, grammer and punctuation, besides I really wanted to get this chapter out. And wow, I already have over 20 followers for my first story, thank you guys so, so much! Please leave a review if you have the time to spare!**

**-Y**


	9. Chapter 8:There, there brother

Chapter 8: There, there brother

Sakura took a deep breath. Took a glance around the occupaid table before excusing herself, saying she needed some air. When the door closed behind her, all eyes turned to face both Ino and Hinata. The two teens looked down guiltily, an uneasy feeling spreading through them as Ino then gave off an awkward laugh and waved her hand dismissingly while Hinata sighed beside her.

"Was it something I said?"Itachi questioned, eyebrow raised.

"N-no...it's...um..."the dark haired heiress started unsurely, then sighing in relief as Ino came to her rescue.

"Well, we can't tell you anything about Sakura just yet, we don't have Lady Tsunade's permission."Ino said as she stood up from her seat along with Hinata. "...And as for Sasuke...the curse mark took over again."the blonde finished and bid everyone farewell as she exited the room with Hinata politely saying a "Sorry for the inconvenience." leaving a once rowdy room so quiet you could hear the sound of a pin when it hits the ground.

"Itachi-"Nagato started but got cut off as Itachi raised a hand to silence him.

"I know... I know..."he muttered, expression unreadable.

* * *

Sakura sighed. Did she seem to look like some self-centred bitch when she stormed of so rudely? She flinched. She didn't even finish her shift before running off! Maybe she should feel guilty, or maybe regretful for her actions, but she doesn't, and no one could blame her, right? I mean if they want her to trust them then they should at least trust her with the truth right? Right. Okay, maybe she still has not trust them but really though, what if this was just all a dream? A nightmare even, depending on how things go from here on out. And who's to say that these people are even real? But it feels so realistic. What if everything was real except her? The pinkette snorted at the thought, she was exaggerating, she knows.

She was just playing it safe for the time being, until she finds out what those people want with her and their true intentions only will she chose to trust them or not. I mean who's to say that they were leading her to her own dissmay? Even Ino seemed suspicious to her. Not to mention her memories were not what she remembered it to be...it was messed up! And most of them were blurry.

With another sigh, the pinkette kicked a near by rock away before landing her gaze on two children playing in a sandbox. It was a boy and a girl and they seem to be quite occupied with whatever they were building with the sand. A smile graced her lips as the girl started nagging the boy on how untidy his side was, the boy merely sticked his tongue out at the girl and ignored the rest of her rantings. The girl had short raven hair that reached just above her shoulders and the bridge of her nose was occupied with a pair of red glasses. The boy on the other hand had messy unkept blonde hair and suspiciously familiar whisker marks on both side of his cheeks.

It was then that Sakura decided to take a look on what they were up to as she silently strolled over to the sandbox.

"What are you two building?"she questioned as the two stifftened and glanced at her warily. Weird. Did she look that intimidating? The raven haired girl then whispered something to the whiskered blonde before turning back to a confused emerald eyed teen with uneasy grins as the boy started nudging the girl with his elbow.

"Uh...sorry but my mama said not to talk to strangers..."the girl with the red glasses said as her grin fell and glared at the blonde boy

"Oh, um...sorry about that but I promise I won't do anything to harm you two. I was just curious to see what you two were building with the sand."Sakura simply stated.

"Don't mind her nee-san! She's just over cautious because you're way more prettier than her and she's just afraid of me cheating on her!"the blonde boy exclaimed as he earned a smack on the head by the raven head. For some reason these two reminded her of Naruto and Sasuke...

"Am not! And since when did we start dating?!"the girl fumed.

Sakura giggled as both kids turned to her direction.

"What's so funny?"both simultaneously asked.

"...Oh? It's nothing, you two just remind me of two other people."

"Oh..."

"So anyways, what were you two building?"the pinkette said as she ceased her giggling.

"Hm? Oh yeah! We were trying to make a tower!"the blonde boy exclaimed once again.

"Tower?"

"Yup! I was doing a fine job on my side, but Sara-chan here keeps nagging me!"

Sakura knelt to their level so it will be easier to converse with them as her gaze landed on the glasses wearing raven head. "You're name is Sara?"

The girl merely looked away shyly as she muttered "No, it's just a nickname the idiot came up with..."

"I'm guessing you won't tell me your real names."Sakura said with a laugh as she looked a both of them.

"Sorry nee-chan, but stranger danger. Even _if _you promised not to hurt us."the whiskered blonde said with an apologetic smile.

"It's okay. Well, sorry for bothering you two. I think I'll be off then."she said and patted both children on the head, the blonde whiskered boy grinned in return as the glasses wearing girl gave an annoyed look. It then struck Sakura on how much she resembled Sasuke as her hands fell to her side and she stood to her full height. Giving them one last wave, Sakura headed the opposite direction of the sandbox.

Sasuke... Maybe it was just a coincidence, but that girl looked a lot like him. She wondered how he was doing, how the rest were doing with the injuries they received. She wanted to know more about him, more about who Uchiha Sasuke was before she met him. Was he always this expressionless and short tempered? Did he always had a stick up his ass? Was he always prideful and egotistical? She wants to know, to learn more about him. Maybe she has gotten extremely busy body or she was insane, she didn't know Sasuke had this kind of effect on her, but it felt good to care about someone else other then her parents.

Okay, maybe worrying about someone wasn't all that good. What happend to him? Where did they take him to? What were they going to do to him? The scene at the cafeteria started replaying through her head over and over again. What were those weird markings around his body? She felt so much fear when she woke up, fear of the unconscious bodies around him, fear of him accually killing someone, fear of him hurting Ino and fear of _him _lossing himself. Oh no, she was turning into a worrying mother!

The pinkette continued her journey down the path, as her thoughts started getting more and more jumbled up. Her worrying would not seem to cease! In the end, she decided to head back to the library and apologize for her rude departure. She hoped Ino and Hinata were still there.

As she rounded the corner, she bumped into something hard and fell on the ground. Looking up, she was met with Itachi's apologetic smile and his out stretched hand. She didn't move nor made an attempt to accept his out stretched hand, the words he said from earlier stuck in her head. They were brothers, Itachi and Sasuke were both brothers, why didn't she hear about this before? Easy answer, Sasuke never mentioned him. It was then that Sakura couldn't take it anymore as the tears started spilling from her eyes, oh how stupid she was for mostly worrying about him and not for Naruto and the rest.

* * *

"...a-and after that, he-he blacked out!"she finished with a huff and took a bite out of the dango.

She was embarrassed for breaking down in front of Itachi of course, but he being the kind man he is, offered her to talk it out to him as he treated her to some sweets. So Sakura told him how selfish and stupid she was for only thinking of Sasuke when he wasn't even injured that much. In turn, he only stayed quiet and listen to her ramblings with an unreadable expression.

"It's difficult not to worry about him, I know..."was the first she heard him say after she finished her rambling.

"It's hard to belive that you two are brothers, aside from your looks, you two are complete opposites."the pinkette said in between bites.

"Hn, Sasuke can be difficult..."he mumbled with a chuckle.

"Can I ask something personal? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to..."

"Shoot."

"...I've noticed it earlier but I only chose to stay quiet... What happend to your parents?"she has to know, she _wants _to know. Are there any other Uchihas? Was that little girl with the red glasses one too? Why hasn't Sasuke mention his family? Not even once... She then noticed maybe she was pushing it. Even if she and Itachi were co-workers slash close friends, maybe asking about family was going too far. Just as she was about to apologize and ask him to forget about it, he spoke.

"I was only thirteen that time...Sasuke looked up to me like I was his idol, but I beg to differ as I was not... For some reason our father always paid more attention to me than to Sasuke. Jealous or not, that foolish boy never showed. He would always ask me to train with him, sometimes I could, sometimes I couldn't... The times I couldn't I would always poke him on the forehead and apologize for not being able to..."the raven head said as he trailed off. Sakura blushed when he mentioned the forehead poking as she recalled Sasuke doing the same to her once.

Sakura silently stared at Itachi. So he and Sasuke used to be close...but she had a feeling that the story had a lot more behind it

"What happened?"

She watched as he took a deep breath and and said the following as her eyes widened "I killed the entire clan..."

* * *

Red...and white? It's the Uchiha clan's symbol. A fan shapped symbol, red on the top half and white on the bottom half...No, wait...why is the bottom half red too? Oh? It's blood you say? How did it get there? Who got hurt? Is he or she bleeding? Why are there so many people sleeping on the ground? Is he or she dead? Why? How did they die? Who killed them? Why am I the only one alive? Why-

SHUT UP!

* * *

He was in a daze, staring at nothing but the once pure white walls which was now stained red with blood. He lost control again didn't he? Idiot. He could have done a better job at surpassing that damn curse mark. No use whining now, since they had already locked him up in chains and in the specially made room for occasions like when he goes beserk... The image of a crying Sakura stayed in his mind as he stared at the ceilling. He hears voices oitside as he tried straining his ears to hear the discustion they were having.

"Orochimaru, ya bastard, ya finally came!"probably that indigo coloured hair lady.

"You needn't be rude Anko-san."oh, will you look at that! Four eyes is here as well.

"...'Anko-san'? Do I really look that old to ya four eyes? Do ya need a new pair of glasses?"

"Hm...accually you look older that Kakashi over there."

"Why I oughta-"

"Now, now you two, break it up."Orochimaru said, cutting of a fuming Anko. "So how is Sasuke?"the way he pronounced his name though, Sasuke shivered at the thought.

"He could've been better..."he heard Naruto say.

"My, my. You all look as if an elephant danced on top of you."Orochimaru said with a chuckle, the raven head could accually tell the amount of glares the snake-like man was receiving then and there.

"Yes, infact that so called elephant so happens to be your mentee..."the Hyuuga said, unamused.

It was then that Sasuke decided to tune out on their (so far pointless) discustion, or more like conversation as he leaned his head against the chair he was chained to. It didn't matter what they were about to do to him, he could take it (he thinks). Turning his head to face the once pure white walls, his thoughts then wandered off to a certain pinkette. For some reason he misses her. Where was she? How was she doing? How long has it been since he was trapped in here? He wanted to break break free and look for her so badly. He doesn't even bother asking himself why he thought of her so much.

Just then he heard an unmistakably recognizable voice. His eyes widen as his teeth gritted...it was Itachi...

"How are you all?"his sickening slick voice echoed around the place. Sasuke clenched his fist as he tried claming himself with deep breathes. Oh how he wanted to punch that sorry excuse of a brother, so badly. How long has it been? How long has it been since the massacre of the Uchiha clan? Ten years, ten fucking years. Ten fucking years since the massacre, ten fucking years since _he, _Itachi, disappeared. And now he's back. He's back and all he can say is 'How are you all'!

The raven head then took a deep breath and listened in on their conversation once again.

"I-Itachi...what are you doing here?"Naruto stammered, shock was evident in his voice.

"It's rude to ask other people questions when you haven't even answered their's."he could practically hear that smug smile of his (and yes, he can _hear _his brother's smile).

"We're fine. But what are you doing here, Itachi-san?"Neji said. Wrong choice in words Hyuuga.

"Hm... you all don't look fine. Surely you don't think that I would belive you, do you?"Itachi smartly countered. This man was unbelivable! He could probably imagine the Hyuuga resisting a sneer and a rude remark...or was it just himself?

"All right then, we're not fine! And if you're going to ask 'why' then you should probably already know, asuming since you went through the trouble of coming all the way here."the onyx eyed teen heard Shikamaru finish with a huff as he mentally gave him a pat on the back.

The raven head then heard his brother applauded the pineapple hair esqued genius. "Very well then, I shall answer your question...only it you promise to tell Sakura _everything._"

Sasuke held a breath. Sakura? What does Sakura have anything to do with this?

"...S-Sakura-chan?"Naruto stammered as Sasuke heard footsteps enter the room. He then heard as she greeted everyone in the room as as his confusion only increased.

"Sakura-chan, wha-what are you-"the blonde started but got cut off by Sakura as she frimly said a "Do you promise?"

He heard Kakashi sigh as he then said "I don't see why not."and heard Orochimaru chuckle and continued with a "Only if Tsunade agrees."which made the room fall silent. Sasuke inwardly thanked his mentor for mentioning the busty blonde Sage, it not, then they would have agreed with something worth Tsunade's wrath.

"I'll make her agree."the pinkette stated confidently. Even if he was seething at her for planning something with Itachi, he couldn't help but smirk at the bravary she displayed towards the easily tempered blonde Sage.

"I will back you up then, Haruno-san."surprisingly, it was Gaara who vouched for her. There were several grunts of aproval and an uneasy "Why not..."from Naruto as the raven head could imagine Sakura's beaming smile towards the rest.

"Alrighty! Since that's settled, what are you doin' here Uchiha punk?!"Anko, if that was her name, questioned the older Uchiha.

"Simple, I'm here to remove the curse mark you placed on Sasuke, Orochimaru,"he stated and heard a dramatic gasp coming from Naruto.

Sasuke was calm. Completely and utterly calm. People always say that he couldn't keep his temper in check, and guess what? Those people were completely right. "GET YOUR SORRY ASS IN HERE, ITACHI!"

Everyone flinched from the volume of his voice and watched as Itachi gave a small smile. The raven head then beakoned the silver head man to unlock the door leading to Sasuke's own personal cell.

Sasuke watched as the door opened and in stepped Kakashi and Itachi along with Orochimaru and an anxious Sakura, he then wondered why the rest didn't bother coming younger Uchiha then watched as Sakura gasped at the sight beholded to her. Blood stained walls and floors along with a blood stained teenager locked in chains is definitely not a sight you would lay witness upon everyday. He inwardly smirked at her reaction, he wasn't surprised, she was so predictable, so innocent..._too _ innocent, so annoying...

He glared at Itachi with oh so much hate, he didn't care what anyone would think of him anymore. No one knew how much he had suffered. No one knew how many sleepless nights he has had due to the nightmares. Nightmares of what you ask? Nightmares of _him _ Itachi, killing, killing his own family, the whole of the Uchiha clan, slaughtered by their own blood. Murdered by their own pride.

People would say he was the solo surviour of the Uchiha clan, but what do they know? He doesn't consider himself a surviour. People would also say he was an advenger, an advenger just waiting to get vengence from the one who killed his clan, his family, again, what do they know? He isn't a surviour, but a person who was pitied by the assasin. He isn't a advenger, he only trains hard so something like that never happens again, ever! He hated feeling pitied, he hated feeling weak. Hate, such a powerful word...

"Hello, foolish little brother,"Itachi greeted, staring down at his chained form. Oh how he wants to break out and stanggle the answers out of him. Answers on why he had killed the entire clan, answers on why he hed disappeared for ten fucking years! There was also the question on how he knew about the curse mark Sasuke had obtained for more power.

Sasuke did not respond, he only glared.

"I see you had a lovely first day at school,"Itachi said with a smirk, causing Sasuke to glare harder.

"I think in Sasuke language that means 'quit joking and explain',"a smiling Orochimaru explained.

"I cannot explain what I don't know what you want me to explain, Sasuke,"the raven said with a melting smirk.

Sasuke growled. "How about you start with why you are here!"

"As I've already said, I came here to remove the curse mark placed on you,"he simply stated.

"Why now? Why not before I agreed to that freak's deal and got said curse mark?"Sasuke hissed and watched as Sakura shifted uncomfortably.

"Said freak is standing here,"Orochimaru pipped but got ignored.

"Because _she _finally entered your life,"the older Uchiha said as he gestured to the now shocked pinkette.

"Wha-what do you mean?"she whispered.

"Yes, do elaborate, _Itachi,_"he spat, trying to watch for any signs of...well, anything on Itachi's face. But unfortunately, it was unreadable.

"I can't, I'm not permitted to."

Sasuke held back a facepalm and decided to do it mentally (partly because he's chained up). Of course he is not permitted to.

"But, I will tell you that the Hokage and the Three Sages know something about it,"Itachi said, side glancing to one of said Sages.

"Orochimaru only smirked. "Now's not a good time."

They left it at that as Sasuke's heated glare towards Itachi wavered. "And what do you mean by 'removing' the curse mark?"

"It means exactly what I meant, amd Orochimaru agrees, right?"

"Not entirely, but yes. It's for the best, no?"Orochimaru said and got behind the chained raven head.

"This is going to sting,"a kneeling Kakashi said and stood to back up.

"Wait, wha-"he started but was silenced by a sudden stinging pain by his neck. Looking down, he then realised the reason as to why the silver head was kneeling in the first place. A magic circle was drawn, glowing blood red as it was drawn by blood itself. How could he have not notice?! The patterns were unrecognizable as the pain was starting to obscure his vision. He screamed.

But wait, he must not black out now! What of his unanswered questions? His answers of his brother's disappearance and why he killed the entire clan, why was he left untouched? Did he planned this?! That bastard!

Those were the last of his thoughts as he then saw nothing but pitched black.

* * *

Screaming. She heard nothing but the cry of pain coming from the raven head. It was absolutely terrifying, the most horrible experiance she had ever gone through. He was in so much pain, and she could do naught but watch as he suffers. They were hurting him, hurting him for what was good for him.

With hands covering her ears, Sakura watched the struggling form of Sasuke as the only thing keeping him in place were those blood stained chains. So far, all she could see was the colour red. Red was decorating all who occupaid the room as nothing could be head but the pained screams of Uchiha Sasuke. His eyebrows were knitted together as sweat traveled down his forehead, markings appeared all around his body as his breathing became deep and ragged, continuing his struggle. When will this end?

She then watched as the head of a white snake popped out by his collarbone (gross). It then slithered its way out and head towards the Sage of Snakes. The markings around his body diceased as his cry of pain came to a sudden halt and he took a huge gasp of air, he then slumped in his seat as the blood red light dimmed and disappeared along with the magic circle.

The pinkette didn't even realise she was shaking until she felt someone place a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she then noticed it was Naruto, who was also giving her a sympathetic look. The others were gathered behind him, some staring at the messy state she was in while others stared at the four in the centre of the room. She watched the girls gym teacher, Anko-sensei, shaking her head towards Orochimaru, who was happily examining his new found pet.

Blinking once, she heard footsteps head her way. Turning her head towards the direction of the sound, she found it was Itach, who looked as if he could collapse any second now.

"Sakura."

"Ye-yeah?"

He reached into a pocket of his coat and pulled out an envolope, handing it to her, he said "Give that to Sasuke when you think he's ready."

As she was about to reach for the envolope, she stopped mid-way and inquired "Why can't you give it to him yourself?"

He smiled a sad smile. "Because I won't be there when he is finally ready..."

"What do you mean? Wh-where are you going?"

"On a long trip I don't think I'll be able to return from,"was the last thing he said before giving her the envolope containing the letter and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Sakura stared at the letter Itachi had entrusted her with, she wondered what he had wrote inside, could it be the same thing he had told her the other day when she broke down in front of him? She did not know. Why would she know? She didn't want to think much about it, so she decided to store it in the bedside drawer of her temporary room. With a sigh she stood up and head towards the bathroom for a little bathroom break. Sasuke was still unconscious from the day before and she could do nothing but watch as he slept. And yes, you heard (read) right! It was already a few days before the incident at the cafeteria and with Itachi and Sasuke still has not woken up. The pinkette gave a loud yawn and stretched those stiff muscles of hers, after hearing the satisfiying 'pop' of her muscles she continued her journey to the bathroom.

She was greatful to Naruto and the rest for helping her haul Sasuke back to his house, but also annoyed that Naruto had 'accidentally' bumped Sasuke's head on the doorframe. She shook her head at the blonde's clumsiness. She was worried for the raven head really, he hasn't eaten in quite awhile and he might be starving when he got didn't plan on using the word 'if', 'when' was just fine. 'If' is too uncertain, while 'when' can be whenever.

Finishing with her buisness, Sakura strolled back down the hall to Sasuke's room. Sasuke's room was plain, like the rest of the house. The only thing that made it noticable for it to be indicating that it was his room was that the curtains and his bed sheets were navy blue.

When she reached the room, the emerald eyed teen was greeted with unmade bed sheets and an empty bed. Eyes widening as panic started resurfacing, she frantically looked around the room, 'agitated' would be an appropriate term to describe her frantic as she was about to call his name, she was silenced by her own yelp as said person she was searching for pinned her to his bed.

His breathing was hard as he glared down at her form. Sakura's breath hitched as she realised their positions. Both her hands were pinned by he's beside her head. Her freshly washed hair sprawled out around her head as Sasuke was only inches away from her face. The one thing ruining the moment would be his glare and few days old bad breathe.

"S-Sasuke? Wha-"she yelped as his glare hardened and the hold on her wrist tightened.

"Firstly, I want to know how long I was out."he stated, not questioned.

"A-a few days-"she paused and winced as his hold tightened again. "Th-three to fo-four days,"his grip loosened, but his glare stayed.

"Now, why were you with Itachi? What were you doing with him?!"he hissed as she felt his hot breathe fan her flushed face.

What was wrong with him?! Normally he would be more patient when asking questions, but now? Why was he so forceful? What was with him and Itachi? She gets that they are both hurt from their past, but what she doesn't understand was the relationship they both shared. They were close to each other before right? What happend to that? Okay, she knows that the Uchiha clan's history was tough but why should they let it effect their brotherly love for each other? Then it hit her, maybe what was written in that letter is what Itachi wanted to explain to Sasuke clearly but can't. It was answers to Sasuke's questions. She gritted her teeth as he tightened his hold once again for the lack of answer she had yet to say.

"Let go of me you butt! It hurts!"she yelled as she struggled to free herself.

He only chuckled, and it was not the lighthearted kind. "Your attempts of escape are futile. Now, answer the me, _Sakura,_"she shivered at the way he said her name and at the way he was looking at her, she suddenly felt exposed under his gaze. I mean, she was only wearing a yellow sundress.

She took a deep breathe and collected herself. Sasuke wouldn't do such a thing, right?

"I'll tell you if you let go of me,"she calmly said and sent him her own glare.

"No. I like seeing you so venerable,"he smirked as her glare hardened with a bonus blush appearing on jer cheeks.

"Urgh! You're imposible! Fine, I'll tell you,"she grumbled and held back a remark. "If you didn't know, I work at the same place he does."

"I knew,"he simply stated, smirk completely gone.

"The day after the cafeteria incident, I went, and...Ino and Hinata were there, apparently..."she trailed off. "...when I entered the break room to inform my co-workers that it was my break time, I found the two of them there. Itachi then questioned about his brother, A.K.A your well being. That was how I found out you two were siblings and that Itachi's family name was 'Uchiha'..."

"Hn, knowing you, you probably stormed off in a fit."

"Oh don't you know me well,"she said with a frown. "Anyway, I knew Ino and Hinata would come looking for me, so I hid from them...more like I went on a walk alone,"the pinkette said with a sheepish smile as he glared at her for being so careless about her own safety.

"After I decided to head back to the library, I bumped into your brother, he then questioned about my 'rude' departure during break time..."she said, deciding to leave out the part of the two children she weren't involed in all this right?

"And?!"he questiond with narrowed eyes.

"Erm...I broke down in front of him because I...was worried sick about you..."she muttered the last part with a small blush.

"..."Sasuke didn't say anything, he just watched her. Sakura avoided his gaze and looked anywhere but at him.

"...anyway, at first he tried claming me down by treating me to some sweets. I then told him what was troubling me as he hesitantly told me about the Uchiha clan's history...how you and he was the only surviving ones left,"she stopped to sneak a glance at him. He looked so pained that it accually hurt.

"You're not... surprised about that? On how the Uchiha clan ended up?"

The pinkette pursed her lips before sighing. "Honestly...I don't know how to respond to that... But listen Sasuke, he cares for you, he really, really does."

"WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW SAKURA?! I-"he hissed but got cut off by her.

"You're right. I wouldn't know what history you had shared with him and why both of you are so pained. But what I _do_ know is that YOU are being a coward and runni g away from the truth! And you know what the truth is? That you still care about him anyway!"she finished, all the while bracing for his death glare.

It never came though... He was only staring at her with disbelif.

"S-Sasuk-?!"she started but was interupted by a sudden gasp from none other than the blonde knuckle head Naruto.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: Heh, I know whatever I say will only sound like an excuse. Wish me luck on my exams!**

**-Y**


	10. Chapter 9:Decided fate

Chapter 9: Decided fate

"O-oh, um-uh ah-hah... We-well so-sorry for interupting your-uh mo-moment? Yeah moment. So I'll just go now... Wow, is it me or it's getting hot in here..." he said with stumbling words and took several quick steps away from the door before fully dashing of, face red and all.

It took a few seconds for Sakura to process what had just happend and why had Naruto just ran off with his tail between his legs quite litarally. This is when it occured to her that Sasuke was still on top of her. Blushing scarlet red, she quickly regained her bearings and took the oppertunity of Sasuke looking all shocked and distracted to shove him off. She scrambled to sit up, and when she did she turned to glare at him, all the while still blushing. She then cursed herself for leaving the door wide open.

Sasuke's form was stiff as he slowly sat up. His onyx eyes then met her glaring emerald ones.

Sakura's breath hitched and turned to avoid his gaze. Did he _had _to look at her like a lost puppy? Does he really want her to hug him and continuously apologize for saying what was obviously the truth? No. He had to think this through himself, no matter how lost or confused he is, she can only guide him. She pursed her lips as she felt his eyes lingering on her. Unconsciously, she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. Should she say something? Anything would be fine right? This silence and tense atmosphere could litarally kill a person, namely those two loud blondes.

"Um...aren't you hungry?" She started and mentally faced palmed. Of course he is hungry, he was unconscious for three days! Why oh why did she not think before questioning him the obvious?! "...well of course you are hungry, right?"

When she received no reply she sneaked a peek at him, he was still staring.

"Nice weather we're having?" She instinctively cringe at how that sentance sounded more like a question than a statement.

Once again receiving no reply she started feeling self-cautious and begun playing with the helm of her dress.

Finally, he sighed, stood up and headed out the door of his room, mumbling a "Thanks for taking care of me while I was out..."

The pinkette let out a relived breath as she collapsed on Sasuke's bed before curling up into herself. Strange. Her heart rate was still speeding as fast as Naruto when he walked in on their awkward situation, her face still felt warm and she was confused. How will she ever know when Sasuke will be deemed 'ready' enough to present him Itachi's letter? Why did he have to be so complicated? Were all men like this or was it just that grumpy puss? Her cheeks reddened once again as she remembered how his warm (and smelly) breath fanned her face. Uchiha Sasuke, just what are you trying to accomplish?

* * *

Sasuke felt annoyed. He was normally more at control, and all that control was thrown out the window when the topic of Itachi was brought up. And it definitely did not help his control when Sakura was only wearing such a thin material of clothing.

He gave a frustrated sigh as he stepped into the shower, allowing the water to drench him from head to toe. He hated baths and water, but what was he to do? He was part cat and cats are hygienic, but he does not want to lick himself clean. So showering was the only option left. Well, there was soaking in the bath tub, but showering seemed much more faster.

Truthfully, he was glad Naruto interupted them. If not, then things would have gotten...out of hand... He still could not get the image of her vulneerable form out of his head, with her slightly drench pink locks fanned around her head, rosy red cheeks, half-lidded eyes and parted lips...her lips... He groaned and switched the water temperature to cold. Indecent things were swimming through his head as he thought of ways to shove them into a box and hide them into the deepest part of his brain. Oh how dissapointed his mother would be if she saw the pathetic state he was in, all because of a girl and teenage hormon problems.

He felt the area around his neck of where the curse mark was once placed.

Hn. Once.

Past tense.

Not like he cared or anything, I mean the curse mark was nothing but trouble, but the power it wield was something that caught his attention. He would do anything to gain more power really, even if it meant going through immense pain to obtain it. To be someone strong, not weak...

When he finished bathing, he brushed his teeth and quickly put on some clothes before stepping out of the bathroom with drenced hair sticking to his face. He ran his fingers through his hair as tiny water dropplets spread about. Towel in hand, he swung it around his shoulders and startred walking back to his room.

Sakura's words echoed through his mind as he stopped mid-step and glared at the floor. Him? Still caring for Itachi? That girl was spouting out a load of bullshit. She should be worrying more about herself then other people, wondering off without protection on her 'little' walk, she could have been attacked for Susanoo's sake! And it would be on his head if they lost her. Well, everyone's heads... Tsunade would make sure of that...

A loud grumble from his stomach stopped his train of though as he continued his journey to his room, drying his hair on the way. Reaching his room, he found Sakura just getting up from his bed as she was about to leave. She stopped mid-way and stared at him, mouth opening and closing as if she were about to say something but could not seem to find the right words to it.

"Hn," he grunted and threw the towel he was using to dry his hair with on her face and turned his back to her.

"Wha-?!" She spluttered as she snatched the offending item off her face and glared at his retreating back.

"Hey-"

"Are you coming or not?" He called over his shoulder.

"Where to?" She questioned, towel still in hand.

"To eat. I'm starving," he simply said and continued walking.

"Oh..." she said as a smile blossomed on her face. "Hey, wait up!" She called and ran to catch up with him. Sasuke unconsciously slowed his steps as she appeared beside him with a silly grin stuck to her face.

"You're treating right, Sasuke?"

XYXYXYXYXYX

"...and then 'BAM'!" He shows up out of no where with this badass aura around him as everyone then shuts up and-" Naruto continued with the...um...'status' report as his hands moved around wildly to increase the dramatic flare to his stor- um...'status' report as he could do nothing but nod and try to understand the blonde teen.

It was only after he got to the part where he found Sasuke pinning Sakura down that Kushina pulled his ear, effectively making him end his sto- 'status' report. Minato laughed and shook his head at his son's silliness, he then quieted and sighed as he leaned against his seat.

So far all he knew was that the curse mark on Sasuke had started acting up again and that Sakura had somehow manage to stop him from destroying the whole school. Itachi had then unexpectably showed up at Sasuke's 'cool down' room, declaring that he wanted to remove said curse mark. Then with the help of Orochimaru and Kakashi, he managed to do just that. It was quite a simple concept to understand really, reasonable too. The only problem at hand was the promise they made with the pinkette... What to do...it was maybe a little too early for her to find out about the truth...and about her parents. They needed more time... Perhaps they could switch up a few 'parts' in Tsunade's oh so 'brilliant' plan.

Risky, but worth a try.

Minato glanced up at the ceiling as the gears in his head started spinning, a plan formulating as he remembered the desperate pleas of the pinkette's parents. They were begging him...begging him to help protect their precious daughter from harm, from that monster who claims she was to be their new tool. The blonde Hokage had agreed to help of course, they were the only ever Harunos left in the village. Little that he know that a tragedy was to befall on the Uchiha clan as well...if only he were a better leader. No. A better _Hokage_ could he have prevented these mishaps from occurring.

So the only choice he had was to send the Harunos to the human relm for a much peaceful life, since they kept on insisting him to do just that. But matters only worsened as the enemy found their whereabouts and threatened for their daughters very being. So knowing what fate had install for them Kizashi, Sakura's father and once a very well known and powerful sorcerer, sealed his powers in a cherry blossom shaped pendant and presented it to his daughter for protection. Noble and heroic, both parents then sacrificed their very lives for their daughter's happiness. Honestly, Minato thought it was foolish of them to do so, I mean would their daughter really be happy to find out that her parents had died for her sake? No, she would not be happy at all.

They even thought to go so far and consulted the Yamanakas to rewrite their daughter's memories, her memories of her happy past into false happy memories. Though no Yamanaka had volunteered to help, all were hesitant to the Haruno couple's request but one...Yamanaka Inoichi's daughter and best friend of Sakura's, Yamanaka Ino had volunteered to rewrite the memories of her best friend, all for the sake of hoping that she would be safe from harm's view.

Quiet a burden it was on the pre-teen as she was only thirteen, three years of using her magic non-stop for the sake of her friend's well being. Of course that would put a strain on her as the pinkette then had nostalgic feelings towards this very place, the place where she once lived with her friends. And as Tsunade was concerned about such events, she sent the lone survivor of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Sasuke, the only one who was not from Sakura's past to care for her as the rest of the plan is to take place accordingly.

But of course the plan was not executed well as the cures mark on Sasuke acted up. The appearance of Itachi was also uncalled for as matters will only start getting more complicated then it already is.

Minato could do nothing when he found out about the Uchiha massacre and he felt devastated for the lost of the once powerful clan. Then he found out who that master mind was and banned him from the village. A fool he was for spreading rumours of the Uchiha clan plotting to destroy the village, and to put such a strain on a sixteen year-old when he loved the village as much as he loved his family and younger brother... Danzo that fool.

The blonde Hokage sighed as he ran his hand through his spikey blonde locks, causing his wife and son to stop their bickering and glanced at him, concern laced on their fetures.

"What's wrong tou-chan?"Naruto questioned, eyebrow raised.

"Is something bothering you dear?"Kushina question, head cutely tilted to one side as her red locks followed suite.

He only smile and shook his head. Oh, how he loved his family.

"Nah...I'm just thinking is all."

"Oh..."both said simultaneously.

He grinned. "So, what's for lunch?"

"Oh, oh! Ramen!"

XYXYXYXYXYXY

"We have finally found the school she attends, and I want you to enroll there, understand? Your mission will then be to find out where they have hidden the gate to the village from me," a stern voice said.

"Mission accepted," the dark haired teen said, head bowed down while on one knee in a kneeling position.

"Very well. After three years of waiting, and now finally, I can get my revenge towards those traitors!" He bellowed as a shrill laughter danced around the place.

The delusional man smirked. "They won't know what hit them."

XYXYXYXYXYXY

"..."

"Ah! Sasuke, hey! Long time no see!" A teen with sharp pointy teeth and white hair with a tinge of blue at the ends called out as he frantically waved at the raven head in absolute glee.

"Hm? You know him Sasuke?" Sakura inquired and watched as he and two other people came bounding over, a redhead with glasses and a buff orange head.

Right now both Sasuke and Sakura were somewhere in the middle of the village square near the fountain as both had just had their fill on ramen and was going on a stroll around the village. Had people not know them then they would have been mistaken as a couple if not for Sasuke's permanent glare towards anyone who dared whisper behind their backs, especially those giggling fangirls of Sasuke's.

Sakura greatfully took a sip of the strawberry and vanilla mixed milkshake that _Sasuke bought _as she gave him a taunting glance before saying, "Eh? But wouldn't that be rude?"

Sasuke glare at the beverage in her hands as he remembered all to well how she managed to beg him into buying it for her.

"Sakura," he said in a warning tone that also almost (almost) sounded like a whine.

"What's wrong? It won't hurt to say 'Hi' to your old friends, right?" The pinkette said as she took another sip on her milkshake tauntingly.

"They're not my friends," he said in a gruff voice, but wheather or not she heard him she did not show.

"I swear, you and your antisocialness," she continued with a headshake.

The raven head glared at her. "Fine, but this is mine," he said as he snatched her strawberry and vanilla mixed milkshake and took a taunting sip out of it as Sakura gasped in shock and glared at him in return.

"Hey! That's mine-"

"It was paid with _my _money."

"Wha-?! Well...I thought you hated sweet stuff?" She said with suspicion.

"Hn."

"Do I spy an indirect kiss taking place?" The white haired teen said as he skipped over.

"Hn, Suigetsu," Sasuke greated and swapped Sakura's hand away from the milkshake as she then pouted and glanced at the newcomer.

"Yes, we all know who Suigetsu is, but what I want to know is who this fine lady is," Suigatsu said with a wink towards the confused emerald eye teen.

"Uh...Sakura, Haruno Sakura," she said waryly.

"Ah, Sakura. You are as lovely as a cherry blossom itself," he said as he took her hand and planted a kiss at the back of it. Sasuke glared.

"...thanks? I guess..." she said slowly and sent him a confused look.

He threw his head back and started laughing just as the orange head spoke up.

"Suigetsu, I think you should stop whatever you are doing before you lose a limb...or two."

The laughter slowly died down as Suigetsu glanced at Sasuke who was busy sending him death glares. He swallowed audibly and sent Sakura an apologetic look before backing away from her.

Sakura took a better look at three. Suigetsu was a lot like Naruto in many ways, loud, outgoing, social, likes to tease Sasuke yet is also afraid of him, oh, and an idiot too. It wasn't that Sakura _disliked _him, he was just too straight forward and unlike Naruto, a little too laid back if you asked her. He wasn't the type to instantly make people like or trust him, he was more of the type where you needed time to get use to before becoming friends with him. Either that or it's the sharp teeth that scares her.

The orange head though...it was then that Sakura realized that she has yet to ask his name .

"Damn Juugo! Thanks for the warning, if not, I would've lost my head," Suigetsu said with a shudder.

Sakura chanced a glance at Sasuke to see that he was casually drinking _her _milkshake...that he bought, but it was still injustice if you asked her.

Sasuke and Juugo shared a nod before Juugo's gaze landed on the pinkette as he then gave her a kind smile.

"Nice to meet you Sakura-san, I'm Juugo," he said in a gentle tone as Sakura mused at how his scary appearance totally distracts from his kind personality. Not that it was bad or anything, but it wasn't good either. I mean what if people mistaken him as a threat when he was kind at nature? On the other hand, his scary appearance may prevent people from bullying him for his kind nature. Ya get? Animals also seem fond of him as Sakura noticed a row of birds resting on his shoulders.

"A-ah, nice to meet you too Juugo-san," she said and returned the smile. "And you are?" Sakura questioned as she glanced at the redhead.

She was examining the pinkette from head to toe...while glaring at her... Wow, what was her problem? Did she say something to offend her or...? Although rude, Sakura did like the colour of the redhead's hair. She might be quiet pretty too if she would stop with the glaring...

"What's it to ya?" She said with narrowed eyes as Sakura spotted Suigetsu rolling his eyes at her. She hid a giggle as the redhead turned her head quick enough to witness his actions.

"Hey, who gave you the right to roll you're eyes at _ME_?!" The redhead snarled as she glared at the shark teeth teen who raised his hands in a mock surrender.

"I gave myself the right to roll my eyes at you, since, well, they _are _my eyeballs," he said with a sneer towards her.

...and that was when she punched his head off.

Sakura gasped as she quickly looked at both Sasuke and Juugo. Sasuke was staring at them, bored and annoyed, meanwhile Juugo was neutral. HOW IT THIS NOT EFFECTING THEM?! THE MAD WOMAN JUST TOOK SUIGETSU'S HEAD OFF! Why is no one reacting to this?! Why?!

A low chuckle interrupted her panicking state as she turned to see Suigetsu's head reassembling. But get this, blood was no where to be found, the white haired teen was assembling through water. Wait a minute, Suigetsu is made of water?! How is that even possible?! Then again, Sakura looked back to an annoyed Sasuke as his cat tail swayed from left to right over and over again. Maybe it's not impossible...

"Do you really think an attack like that would effect me, Karin?" Suigetsu said once his head was completely assembled, a smirk in place.

"I can try can't I, you little piece of-"

"Karin," Sasuke called and gave her a warning look.

Karin blushed and pouted before glaring at Suigetsu once again who's smug smirk never wavered.

"All right, I said 'Hi' to them, _let's go,_" the raven head said in a low growl once he was beside Sakura.

"Eh? But-"

"Well, if that is all then we'll be taking our leave," Sasuke said to the three as he grabed Sakura by the forearm...well, he intended to anyway.

Karin choked on her own saliva, Suigetsu whisled, Juugo stood neutral.

A blush was already formed on the pinkette's face as Sasuke quickly removed his hand away from her chest. She instinctively shield her chst with her arms. And before Sakura could burst out into a furry of calling him a pervert, Suigetsu and Karin beat her to it.

"Wh-why Sasuke?!" Karin shrieked as she clutched her red hair.

"Why to get forceful Sasuke! I had no idea you were into pancakes!" Suigetsu hollered and received a kick in the gut by said pancake. He dropped on the ground groaned at the coming pain.

"For your information I'm a B-cup and still growing!" Sakura said with scowl.

"Shut up! All of you!" Sasuke roared, face as red as his favorite fruit.

"You have no right to shut me up Uchiha! I mean you _were _the one who gropped my boobs!"

"It. Was. An. Accident!"

"Don't belive him Sakura-chan, he might also 'accidently' impregnant you," Suigetsu said while still on the ground clutching his sore gut.

"YOU shut up!" Both Sasuke and Sakura yelled.

Passer by's walked on casually as they ignored the group of teens loudly arguing in the center of the village while one orange haired teen stood by the sidelines, confused by whatever was happening as the redhead beside him never stopped wailling.

* * *

"Naruto~"

"Suigetsu~"

"Naruto~"

"Suigetsu~"

"Naruto~"

"Suiget-"

"ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!" Karin yelled and smacked them both on the head.

"Ow..." both mumured while massaging the pain away.

Sakura blinked and shook her head before looking up at the darkening sky. Trees were catching what little light was left as a flock of birds flew to wherever destination they had planned. One particular bird caught her attention as she watched it fly over them, it was white and looked quiet animeted too...kind of like a drawing. A feather of that bird's decended as it slowly fell towards her.

"Sakura."

Slowly it fell as it swayed side to side as Sakura watched it, mesmerized.

"Sakura!"

Just as she was about to reach for the falling feather, someone tackled her out of the way.

* * *

"Shit!" Sasuke said as he tackled Sakura away from the decending paper bomb.

As it exploded, Sasuke shield the impact from the pinkette underneath him. The extrem pain from his back burned as he held back a cry of pain. Shouts from Naruto and Karin could be hear from a distance, smoke was everywhere as Sakura stared at him in horror and shock.

"Oh my god. S-Sasuke? Are-are you all right? Oh my gosh, if I'd notice that it was a bomb then-"

"Shhh...it's all right, it's not your fault. The smartass who did that casted an illusion on that paper bomb."

"Wha? Bu-but you're hurt. Does it sting? Are you in pain? Why didn't you just yell at me to get out of the way?!" She said as tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

"Hn," he smirked. "Why are you crying when I'm the one in pain?"

"Huh? I-I'm not!" She yelled while quickly wiping her tears away.

"A-anyway, we should tend to your wounds quickly before it gets any worse," Sakura firmly said as she tried to get up from under him.

As she suceeded from her escape underneath him, she quickly kneeled beside him to examine the wound. Sasuke watched as her eyes widen when she caught sight of his wound. She then glared at him as she asked him to lay on his stomach.

"Is it bad?"

"'Is it bad'?! Oh course it's bad!" She said, throwing her arms up to exagerate her point. "Okay, I'm going to have to stop the bleeding first... Do you mind if I rip of your shirt?"

Sasuke gave her an amused smirk, she was blushing. "Go ahead."

And so she did as she then furioisly worked her way through his wound. "I can't really disinfect it here since I don't have a first aid kit with me, but I'll have to stop the bleeding before anything else, so I'm going to try me best to bandage you up with your shit and then take you to a hospital or something."

"Take me to Tsunade, not the hospital." he said as he sighted Naruto, Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo rushing over.

"Eh? Why?"

"Because she's better than a hospital," he simply stated.

"...okay."

"Holy Sage of Six Paths, what the hell Sasuke!" Naruto yelled once they were close enough.

Sasuke grunted in reply.

"Wow Sakura-chan, you sure know what cha' doing," Suigetsu said in wonderment as he watched her hands tend to Sasuke's wounds like a pro.

"She _does _know what she's doing, I mean she has already stopped the bleeding," said Karin as she knelt the opposite side to where Sakura was. "Need help with the temporary bandaging?"

"Yes please," she replied with a greatful smile.

Once both were done with bandaging Sasuke, Juugo slung Sasuke's arm around his neck with the raven head wincing upon contact as they rushed to Tsunade's place.

* * *

"Okie-dokie Uchiha, you're all properly bandaged up," Tsunade said and slapped him on the back, earning a yelp as Sakura giggled at the sight. "But I must say though, whoever took immediate attention on your wound is talented indeed, not bad redhead."

"Accually, it was Sakura who did so, not me," Karin said and watched as Tsunade's immpressed expresion melt into a surprised one.

"Sakura you say..." Sakura tensed as Tsunade glance at her direction. "Immpressive, are you studying to become a doctor, Sakura?"

"Um, ye-yeah... That was the whole reason why I moved to Konoha in the first place," she said bashfully and glanced at her shoes.

"Oh? Have you heard of Doctor Senju?"

"Have I?! I adore her! She has saved so many lives! Oh how I wish to meet her..."

"Well...you're looking at her," Naruto said with a smirk and watched as she gave a confused look. "That's her name, Senju Tsunade."

"Eh? Ehhhhhhh?!" She gasped as she looked between both Naruto and Tsunade.

"It's true," Sasuke said at his place on the examining table.

"Well Sakura, would you like to learn a few things from me?"

"Y-yes please!" She agreed almost immediatly, eyes flashing with admiration.

* * *

"Hello, my name is Sai. I hope to have a great school year with you all," a pale dark haired teen finished with a smile.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, something was off. For some reason he knew. He just knew by looking, it was not that hard to tell anyway, I mean people do it everyday, even he himself. But for some reason, the smile on the new kid's face seemed fake...

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: So... hi? Okay, so I know I owe you lot an explanation on why this was out very late. Let's just say I've started watching Free! and wow on how long it took me to get over Makoto... Other then that, our school was holding a school carnival and you could say I was quite busy. Anyway, as always thanks for the support and please review. By the way thank you koolkidSwaggy for being the tenth reviewer!**

**-Y**


	11. Chapter 10:An arousing nightmare

Chapter 10: An arousing nightmare

"How's your back?" Sakura questioned through the rowdy crowd of students heading towards the cafeteria.

"Been better..." he grumbled, easily dodging a rushing student. He looked really worn out Sakura noted, he had purple bags under his eyes, onyx colored irises not as beautiful as they seemed any more. He must be lacking sleep, I mean with a wound like that on his back he would probably have trouble sleeping on his stomach the whole night through. The pinkette herself was of course still guilty, if only she was paying attention... then Sasuke wouldn't have to suffer with a third-degree burn that will surely cause him great burden. Or meybe she was the burden...

"You should've rested at ho-" she caught herself before finishing her sentance. She almost said 'Home'... That place, the forest, Sasuke's house... her home? It had been weeks since she started staying at Sasuke's place, a whole month even. Summer had greeted them just recently and the whole student body was clad in the school's Summer uniform from boys to girls respectively. It had been that long huh? Even Summer was here already...she had gotten too comfortable.

Sasuke stopped in his tracks to glance at her in question as she had stopped mid-sentance. She glanced back at him and gave a sheepish smile before shaking her head and telling him it was nothing as they continued walking towards the cafeteria.

"You're bringing that book again?" He inquired, eyes on the novel in her arms.

"What? 'Forest Stray'? It's a good book. I haven't had the time to read it since you kidnapped me, so I thought recess would be a good time to continue reading. Well, after I've eaten of course," she replied as she held up the book for him to have a better look.

"Hn. It's called desperate times calls for desperate measures," the raven head said with amusement twinkling in his eyes.

"Yeah right. I was totally the victim," she said with a roll to the eyes.

"Tch. You were being stubborn."

"Well what did you expect me to do? Let you kidnap me?" The pinkette grumbled with an added pout.

"Hn," he grunted, "By the way, the last you read the book was last week. You know, when I just enrolled here?

"Ah yes, psycho Sasuke. Yeah, I remember."

"...hn."

"Hey, don't worry about it, I don't hold it against you. You weren't you that time," she said quietly and watched his reaction from the corner of her eye. "Don't know about Tenten and Temari thou-" she was cut off as someone bumped into her shoulder, causing the novel to fall out of her hands.

Sasuke frowned and glared at the guy. "Hey, watch where you're go-"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Here's your book," the guy who bumped into her said as he handed her the book with a smile.

"-ing..." the raven head finished as a kept a steady gaze on the guy.

"Oh, uh...thanks?" Sakura said hasitantly and slowly took the book back.

The guy kept his smile on as he brushed his dark bangs out of his face, revealing ink black irises before apologizing once again as he then left out of sight. Strange. That was guy quite pale, not too bad looking though. But something was off about him... She glanced at the book in her hand, was it just her or did his smile seemed weird? Like it was forced. Like it was fake even... She then shrugged it off. Probably just her imagination.

"Come on Sasuke, I'm starving," she said and walked on ahead of him.

Sasuke stood in place as he stared at the spot the pale dark haired teen once stood before walking after Sakura. He then glaced behind to sight said dark haired teen by the end of the hallway, smiling at as he waved at the raven head.

* * *

"Tenten, Temari! You guys are all right!" Sakura beamed as she sighted her two friends seated with Ino and the rest.

The two of them grinned at her as they allowed her to hug them. And upon laying their eyes on Sasuke, both teens immediatly tensed and glared at him while blocking his view of Sakura. He simply ignored their childish actions and took a seat between Gaara and Naruto. Kankuro flinched as he finally took notice of the raven heads presence as the rest of the table glanced at him.

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the annoying group of people who stared at him like and art display. Seriously, do these people have nothing better to do? Must they try to piss him off every freaking time he was in their line of sight? There was a sudden pain from where the wound was located on his back as he clenched his fist to keep from cursing out loud. The wound must have opened up...no wonder they were all staring at him. Blood was spreading throughout his once white uniform shirt as he tried to remember what caused the wound to open up in the first place.

Wait, Tsunade told him not to move around so much and forbid him from doing any extrem sports. They had gym this morning...Guy-sensei had instructed the whole class to run ten laps around the field, and like any other school in Konoha, gym class was divided between genders, meaning Sakura wasn't there to nag him or stop him from running those ten laps. But he didn't think running was an extrem sport, was it?

"Uh Sasuke? Ya' got a lil' something on your back," Naruto said as he eyed the raven head in concern.

I've _noticed_," he hissed as he noted that the whole cafeteria had gone dead silent. Damn it! Now things are going to get worse, he was the center of attention as all eyes were on him...or to put it more accurately, his blood soaked back.

"Someone go get a teacher!" Sakura angrily yelled as she glared daggers at him.

He inwardly mused at her stern expression. A student, Rock Lee infact, immeadiatly dashed out the doors of the cafeteria to seek the help of a teacher as the whole place then irrupted into loud whispers while his annoying fangirls (he didn't even know he had any until Naruto and Sakura pointed it out) rushed to his side, asking if he was in pain or not. A few had also questioned how he got the wound in the first place. That was when Sakura appeared beside him and 'shooed' the crowd away.

She faced him with a huff and hissed lowly, "How the hell did you open the fucking wound you idiot! I'd think you would have stayed put till school ends! What. Did. You. Do?!"

He contemplated on wheather or not he should tell her or keep silent. Because A)she looks so freaking pissed off that her head might blow up B)her flushed and angry face was kind of a turn on and C)she could really hurt him if she really wanted to. But if he did tell her then she would be furious, and if he didn't tell her then she would be furious. Either way, both were not a win-win option, and those were the only available options he has got, so he'll just stick to being the honest man he always was and tell her the truth.

"Gym this morning."

She glared as he watched her nose twitch, "What were you told not to do, huh?!"

"Hey, for you information, running laps is not an extrem sport!" He said in a low growl.

"It is if you run a _lot _of it! So pry tell Sasuke-_kun _how many laps did you run?" She said in a sickly sweet voice that made him mentally cringe.

He gave a defeated sigh and glared back at her, "all ten laps."

"Idiot," was the last thing she said before Rock Lee rushed in, panting heavily and all with a Guy-sensei at his heels.

Really?! Of all the fucking-

"Sasuke?! You were doing gym with a wound like that? Why didn't you tell me?" Guy said, surprised, "though I must admit it was quite youthful... Anyway, we must call an ambulance right away."

* * *

Naruto yawned as he watched Kakashi-sensei's car drive out of the school gates, probably thought it was best to look for Tsunade-baa-chan instead of going to some run down hospital. He muffled another yawn as Yamato-sensei continued with the lesson. Bored, he decided to doodle on his note book, in the end the doodle ended up looking like something that could be found in a cat's litter box, so he gave up on doodling. Drawing was never really his strong point, neither was studying, he would rather do sports really.

A tap on his shoulder snapped him out off his dazed state as he glanced behind him. He then narrowed his eyes suspiciously, it was the new kid, Sai. And oh did that smile pissed him off. Seriously, it was a creepy mixture of a Sasuke and Orochimaru smile (not that Sasuke smiles much anyway). Naruto had to hold back a sneer as he rose a questioning brow at the dark haired teen and mouthed a '_What?!'_

"Do you mind telling me what had happened during lunch period, you know, at the cafeteria?" He questioned in a low whisper so that he wouldn't draw attention from the teacher. "With Uchiha-san I mean..."

"Well, I don't really mean to be rude but, it's none of your fucking business!" The blonde whispered/screamed and shot him a pointed look.

"Oh, I don't really mind the rudeness at all. So I apologize for _my _rudeness in asking about your boyfriend," he said with an innocent smile.

"Eh...it's all right. Ya don't have to aplogize for asking," Naruto said with a shrug as he faced back to the front... Until it finally sinked in on what the new kid had deliberately called him and Sasuke, gay. The fucker called them gay. It wasn't as if he had a problem with gay people, I mean it wasn't their fault that they were born that way. But it was the way that that fucker had said it that made him boil with rage. If he wants to make fun of Naruto then fine, but to make fun of Sasuke, his best friend slash brother? Oh, that little piece of shit was going to regret it.

"Hey, what did you say you lil shit?!" The blonde yelled as he shot up from his seat, chair clattering behind him from the sudden movement while he glared down at Sai.

The whole class glanced at them.

"Naruto-" the teacher tried to interrupt.

"Was it something I said?" Sai inquired innocently.

"Who do you think you are, going around and calling people gay ya bastard?!" A finger was shoved in Sai's face as he kept his composure, never moving. "And not only did you intantionally called me that, but Sasuke? You're just begging for some pounding aren't ya?"

"Naruto, please sit down-"

"He called Sasuke-kun a what?!" One of Sasuke's fangirls yelled angrily as she stood up.

"No one asked you Ami!" Naruto sneered as the girl glared at him and sat back down. "Now where was I?"

"You stopped at 'you're just begging for some pounding aren't ya?'" Sai answer cheerfully.

"Oh yeah! Thanks. Anyway, if you want to insult me then fine, but don't you dare drag any of my friends into it!" He huffed and crossed his arms, feeling accomplished.

"Does 'friends' include that stupid excuse of what you call a penis in between your legs?"

"Wha-?!"

"I mean I know you have one, but it was so small that I could hardly identify it as a dick."

"How did you-"

"Urinal, school toilet," was his simple reply as he stared at the fuming blonde teen, face neutral. "Also, yours is by far the smallest. It's even smaller than the average male's "

The class room was quiet, like the calm before the storm. It then got interrupted by Kiba as he gasped for air for holding in his laughter too long. The whole class erupted into a mismatched chorus of laughter as Naruto reddened in both anger and embarrassment.

"Why you lil fucker-"

"NARUTO! Sit down this instant, and I would watch that mouth of yours!" Yamato yelled sternly as the blonde scrambled to sit on his chair, giving one last glare at Sai for good measures. Has he mentioned how much he pisses him off?

* * *

Naruto loved joint art class, partly because the class that would be joining them is the class his beloved Hinata was in. Oh and Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji with what's her face in four pigtails, Temari was it? Gaara's stepsister, and a paranoid Sakura...

As the class settled down, Kurenai-sensei, their arts teacher divided the class into groups of three. Having Naruto pair up with Shikamaru and Temari. Great, just great. This was fan-fucking-tastic! Of course he would have bad luck sided with him today and get paired up with the lazy-ass genius and one of the two crazy people who really want to kill Sasuke. Just fucking wonderful! It would be even better if psycho girl here decided to kill off Sasuke's friends first before getting to him. By the way, that was totally sarcasm it you didn't know. This could not possibly get anymore worse!

"All right class, today we'll be attempting to draw body postures-

It got worse!

"-so you either choose one out of two of your group members to draw or you could do both, it's up to you," Kurenai finished as she sent a look towards Naruto who had slammed his face on the table and let out a groan of disinterest .

With a sigh, the raven haired teacher shook her head and ignored him, fully knowing where his artistic skills stand. "You have until the end of this period. Pencils up, and begin."

As Kurenai said that, Shikamaru took this as a sign to throw his sketch book along with his pencil and eraser to one side before allowing his head to rest in his awaiting crossed arms. Temari rolled her eyes before starting to sketch his face on her sketch book secreatly. Naruto held back a snort, her feelings for the lazy pineapple head were as clear as day, might as well already confess to him. With a slight shake to the head, Naruto stared blankly at the white sheet of paper presented in front of him. Inwardly cringing, he knew he was going to fail anyway, so he drew a circle with a smiley face on it accompanied by a spikey pony-tail.

Viola! Is it not the most fantastically drawn picture of Shikamaru yet?!

The blonde stared at the drawing with shining sapphire eyes as he then shrugged and put the sketch book and pencil aside. His eyes then traveled around the silent classroom as the only sound audible was the scrapping of pencil against paper. Naruto's gaze locked-on to Sakura's form as she was visably tense while she sribbled on her sketch book, Ino was glancing at her from time to time, concerned.

Wow, she was really worried about Sasuke-teme wasn't she? It was strange really, how those two cared for each other unknowingly when they have only just met a month or so. But of couse, Sakura wasn't the only one worried for Sasuke, he was too (even if he hates admitting it). Sasuke was the closest to what having a brother would feel like, and he would hate it if something were to happen to him, Teme or not.

"Hey," Naruto snapped out of his thoughts as he turned to see Temari glancing at the pinkette in concern too.

"Yeah?" He said as she turned to face him.

A look of contemplation crossed her features as she sighed and whispered an "aw, fuck it," and glanced at him in the eyes, determined.

"How did that guy get such an injury?" Was her question as she stared at him with conflicted sea green eyes.

"Who?" He asked, eyebrow raised in confussion .

"Wha-?! You-augh!" She sighed as her sea green eyes flickered back to her unfinished drawing of the snoring Shikamaru while she breathed a "Nevermind..."

'How did _that guy _get such an injury', huh? Did she meant '_that guy' _as in a certain good looking Uchiha with the ass of a duck serving as his hair with one hell of a shitty personality and is all 'I'm holier than thou' to practically everybody? If she did then why? Naruto thought that she hated him, or did the sight of that much blood soaking the Uchiha's once white shirt shaken her up? Or maybe she was questioning to find out if it had anything to do with Sakura feeling so paranoid? Yup, definitely.

"You mean Sasuke-teme, right?" The sapphire eyed blonde questioned, gaining the attention of Temari as she cease her drawing.

She nodded as he continued.

"Well..." he started as his voice dropped to a low whisper. "Let's just say that someone was trying to gain our attention by attempting to kill Sakura-chan with an explosion tag-"

Her eyes went wide at the mention of 'kill' and 'Sakura'.

"-but before that happened, Sasuke pushed Sakura-chan out of the way and protected her from the impact of the explosion," he finished as he eyed her carefully.

"Huh...so he isn't a self rightious jerk after all..." she muttered.

"Yeah, he may look and act like one, but at least he has a heart," he said, remembering the burnt mark on Sasuke's bare back, it was definitely going to leave a badass scare once it's healed.

"I won't agree with you on him _looking _like one, I mean, hello? Sex god much?" She said with a smirk as Shikamaru slightly stirred in his sleep.

"Agh, don't- don't go there please, I beg of you," Naruto pleaded as he threw her a disgusted look. "Wait, I thought you had the hots for Shika-"

She stomped on his feet as he immeadiatly sealed his lips.

"Anyway..." she began with an awkward cough, "...are you done with your drawing already?"

"Ow...huh? Oh yeah! I'm already done, but...I'm not sure about accually getting a passing grade with this..." he said and trailed off.

"Huh...let me see," the dirty blonde said and snatched his unguarded sketch book away without so much as waiting for his reply.

"Aww, I think it's kinda cute!"

"Re-really?! Eh hehe, thanks! Hey, can I see your's too?"

"Oh um...sure..." she hesitantly said and slid her sketch book over to him.

Picking it up, Naruto was staring at an animated like Shikamaru greeting him. She drew him in the pose he was in now, arms crossed with his head resting on them, but a bit more anime flare added to it.

"Wow, it's so anime-ish..."

"Really? Huh, I think I'm spending too much time with Tenten," Temari said with a far away look in her eyes.

Both went back to their own business, unknowing that someone was eavesdropping on they're conversation.

Sai smirked triumphantly at the condition he successfully place the Uchiha in. Messing with those bunch of fools was quite fun, maybe he should satisfy his bored self by messing with them some more before reporting back to Danzo...

* * *

Ino was bored, she glanced at Sakura who was absent-mindedly shading the picture she drew of her, scratch that, Ino was bored _and _concerned. The poor girl had been blaming Sasuke's injury on herself the whole time, and to be frank, it was kind of starting to get annoying. She sighed as she added more details in the drawing of Sakura , mostly at the hair. She stopped as she glanced over to their third member of the group who's face was shield by his long bangs. Neither she nor Sakura had really paid him much attention when they were asked to be paired with him, they didn't even ask for his name. The platinum blonde heard him huff a breath as he erased some part of the drawing and redrew it as his hair swayed with his movement.

Okay, now Ino was curious. She leaned over a few more inches to get a better look on his drawing, and it took her breath away, she was highly impressed really. First of, she was honoured that he chose her to draw. Second, his pencil strokes were fine and neat, not messy like her's. Third, he was nailing it like a pro as he sketched and shade continuosly without missing a beat.

When he paused to look up, Ino had adapted the expression of a deer caught in headlights as warmth raised to her cheeks in embarassment. And as she stuttered for words to say, he gave her an amused smirk that sent her heart sky-rocketing. "I-I um... I was just cu-curious t-to see who you were drawing is all. Eh he he."

Face red accompainied by a sheepish grin was all Ino could muster in such an awkward moment, and she wanted to hit herself for that. Usually our baby-blue eyed blonde would be seen _confidently _talking or _flirting _with boys, why should this boy be any different? Or maybe it was because she was caught in the act of watching him draw that had shooken her up. Yup, definitely not because of the way his ink-black eyes were staring right through her, definitely not the way his bangs were covering parts of his eyes as she felt like sweeping them away, definitely not the way his milky white skin mad her want to touch him _and _definitely not the way he looked so cute as his head was tilted to one side with an eyebrow raised and adouring a confused expression, yup, definitely.

Well...it was not wrong of her to find guys attractive right? Because this guy _was _attractive, next to Sasuke of course.

The guy blinked and offered her a smile. "Would you like to have a better look at it?" He said, indicating the drawn picture of her.

"Oh...would you mind?" She inquired, eyes fixed on his sketch book.

"I wouldn't," he said as he handed her the book.

She stared at the picture in astonishment as her fingers lightly brushed the canvas, feeling the smoothness of the pencil lead on paper. He had accually manage to capture her deep in concentration as she worked on her drawing of Sakura-which seemed dead next to his work-with her eyebrows slightly furrowed and back slightly hunched. She could hardly belive that it was her in the drawing, it was absoulutely stunning! It was as if the picture could jump out alive any moment now.

"Wow," she breathed. "C-can I show this to my friend?"

She didn't wait for his hesitant nod before tapping Sakura on the shoulder to gain her attention.

"Look forehead, isn't this beautiful?!" She gushed as Sakura leaned in to have a better view of the drawing.

"Oh wow," was all Ino manage to get out of her as her emerald irises were glued to the paper.

"This is amazing! Did you draw this?" The pinkette questioned, eyes directed towards the pale dark haired teen.

He nodded as Ino returned him his book.

"What's your name anyway?" Ino asked with interest.

"Sai," was his simple answer.

"Well nice to meet you Sai-kun. My name is Yamanaka Ino, and this is Haruno Sakura," she said with a plesant smile. Before he could say anything, Ino cut him off, "no need for formallities by the way!"

"Right. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance Ino-san," he said, still smiles.

Facing Sakura's direction, Ino felt her friend stifften as Sai said, "Sakura-san."

* * *

Art class ended with a disappointed Kurenai-sensei staring face-to-face at Naruto's work with an unamused expression decorating her fetures as the blonde teen could only grin sheepishly at the teacher before leaving the art room with the rest of the class. Honestly, Sakura did not know weather to be amused or disappointed herself. With a heavy sigh, the pinkette continued her trek down the hall and back to the classroom to prepare for the next lesson as she waved goodbye to Naruto, Kiba Shino...and Sai...

A frown as Sakura thought back to what happened in art class. Everytime she sees that smile of his she couldn't help but release a shiver down her spine. He didn't seem like a bad person, so why? Why does she feel so uncomfortable with someone she has only just meet? It happened on her way to the cafeteria too, it was the same guy. Strange, so very strange.

The emerald eyed teen stopped walking as she reached the classroom, eyes landing on the window seat where Sasuke was suppose to be seated. She felt like slaming her head against the wall for some apparent reason... She tried telling herself that he was all right and in no way was he in any sort of life theartening condition, after all, _The _Senju Tsunade was aidding to his wounds. But of course, she couldn't help but feel responsible for that wound. I mean if only she was paying attention... That wound wasn't deep, but it was a large wound, the explosion had blown away some of his skin and flesh, enough to cause bleeding, not to mention that the surrouding skin was burnt. So of course she was worried, it was Sasuke after all.

She mentally groaned and prayed that school would quickly end. Then she noticed Ino, Temari and Hinata headed her way.

"You all right there short stuff?" Temari asked once they were in ear shot.

The pinkette responded by slaming her head against the desk and groaning.

"No, I'm not all right. I'm tired for some reason..."

"Do you want to rest in the nurse's office?" Hinata asked carefully.

"Ugh, don't spoil her Hinata," Ino said with a dismissive wave, "suck it up forehead, we're all tired and would very much like school to end as soon as possible too."

"Yes, mom."

A gasp, "I am not that old for you to be calling me your mom!"

"You sure? Cause you look like a mom, and you even act like one too!" Temari beamed.

"Hina-chan~ they're bullying me!" Ino cried and hook her arms around Hinata's.

"Eh? Stop bullying her guys," Hinata muttered quietly.

Sakura smiled at her friends, there Ino went with being overly dramatic again, Temari being her sarcastic self and sweet little Hinata still being the angle she was. Well if she was going to sulk throughout the whole day she was glad her friends were here to keep her distracted from overly worrying about a certain someone.

"Hey Sakura, you want grab a bite before we head home? I know this new sweets shop that just opened up last month," Temari questioned as she stared at Sakura expectantly.

"Are you two coming?" She asked both Ino and Hinata.

"Yes we are, I need a break from home once in awhile," Ino said as she stared at her nails, Hinata nodding her head beside her.

"...why not, I guess."

"Whoop! We got a Sakura to join us!" Both Temari and Ino cheered and highfived each other.

"By the way, who's period is it? The teacher is sure taking his time..." Sakura inquired, staring at the front of the classroom.

"...It's Kakashi's..." the pearl eyed teen replied in a low voice as Sakura stifftened.

"Sakura, don't-" Ino tried to comfort her but got silenced as Iruka-sensei anounced his arrival and told the whole class he was replacing Kakashi just for today. A student had tried questioning Kakashi's whereabouts but Iruka simply said Kakashi was busy. The students started mumuring as they went to their respective seats, including Temari, Hinata and Ino, but as the baby-blue eyed teen went off she gave Sakura's hand a light squeeze before walking off. It was then that the pinkette heard a few students whispering that Kakashi was probably skipping work just to 'bang' some girl or was probably locked up in his own closet reading porn.

Sakura held her breath before she snapped at them, she didn't want to make a scen. But for them to spout out nonsense when they know of nothing? How dare those idiots. Her fist clenched tightly under the desk as she glared at the tiled floor. Her mood changing from concerned to rage all at once. She only knew the reason of Kakashi's absents thanks to Naruto mentioning it before they went their separate ways during joined art class.

And during the whole lesson Sakura couldn't help but silently fume at those students who had dared to say such things.

* * *

"Cake, cake, cake and cake! Oh what a wonderland for me!" Her overly excited twin bun friend exclaimed as she dashed into the shop.

Ino started shaking her head in disappointment, saying that Tenten better cut down on her sugar or she will definitely gain an extra few pounds. Temari rolled her eyes as Sakura and Hinata giggled at their actions. The three then entered the store after their blissed brunette friend to find that she was already in line and waving to them to hurry over. Once in line, Tenten had started asking for their orders.

"So, what are you guys planning to to get? I'm going with chocolate cake, chocolate sprinkled donut and chocolate mille crepe!" She exclaimed with a toothy grin.

"That's a lot of chocolate,"Temari pointed out.

"Yes, and I'm going to enjoy myself while indulging in chocolate heaven!"

"Uh-huh...I'll just have pancakes with syrup," said Temari as she glanced at the other three, "we'll order for you guys, so go ahead and look for a place to sit."

"Okay, I'll have the cheesecake," Ino said.

"Uh...ice cream sundea," Hinata said with a small smile.

Temari nodded and glanced at Sakura. "And what would lilttle miss shortcake like? Strawberry shortcake?"

"Yes, actually," Sakura said with crossed arms and pouted at her.

"Heh, all right , I'll take it from here. Shoo," the dirty blonde said with a shooing gesture.

As the three turned to leave, Ino stopped to remind them to order water as well as some napkins before heading away.

* * *

"Man, that was some good cheesecake! I wouldn't mind eating that for the rest of my life!" Ino exclaimed as she patted her stomach.

"The sundea was quite well made too," Hinata beamed.

"I wouldn't mind going back to eat there either," the pinkette said with glee.

The three were currently on their way back from the sweets shop, stomachs full and cheery as they neared the forest, Sakura stopping at her house to check if everything was in place as Ino and Hinata waited for her. Once she was done, the pinkette questioned if they could stop by Tsunade's palace to see how Sasuke was doing. This of course lead to some extrem teasing from Ino as Sakura denied everything she had said.

Once at Tsunade's palace, Sakura, Hinata and Ino was met with a mess of black ink staining the walls, floors and even the ceiling. The three teens quickly dashed to Tsunade's throne room with Ino taking the lead. As they neared the room, Sakura noted that the door was wide open. The pinkette then heard a gasp as her gaze landed on Hinata who was covering her mouth with both her hands, shocked. Sakura followed her gaze as they landed on a blonde man and a red haired women discussing something with Kakashi, also stained by black ink. Who were those two she wondered. Her emerald irises then wonder around the room to find Tsunade cursing inappropriate words as Shizune helped her stand, they were also covered in back ink. She soon found Sasuke propped up against the wall by the door, glaring at the ground, he was also covered in black ink she noted.

Ino dashed towards Tsunade and Shizune as Hinata dashed towards Kakashi and the two unknown people, leaving Sakura by the door. She calmly walked towards Sasuke who has yet to acknowledge her presence and knelt beside him. She then realized that he wasn't wincing in pain as his back was against the wall, had the wound healed so fast? That would be strange... Either that or he was just not showing any signs of being in pain.

"What happened?" She questioned softly.

"Rats," was his simple answer as he looked at her in the eye.

XYXYXYXYXYXY

"You all right there Sasuke," Kakashi questioned once he was buckled up in the driver's seat.

"Hardly," the raven head scoffed as he leaned away from the passanger's seat.

"Good to know," he said as he smiled behind his mask. Sasuke didn't even know why he was wearing a mask in the first place.

Both were strapped in Kakashi's car, ready to take off as Sasuke watched Kakashi insert the key and started up the car. He then drove out the school gates as the raven head's gaze drifted out the window of the car. He watched as the scenery constantly shifted, trying his hardest to ignore the throbbing pain on his back. His gaze traveled back to his former mentor, the white haired man had his right arm propped against the door as his left hand navigated the steering wheel.

"I'm going to turn down the air conditioner, it's fucking freezing," Sasuke mumbled as he did so.

"You know, I'm quite surprised that you haven't passed out yet. You know, with all the blood you've lost?"

"Hn... Hey, this isn't the way back to the village, is it?" he questioned.

"Oh? It' another way I found that leads back to the village," the silver haired man said as he turned a corner.

"This better not be like one of you're 'shortcuts', Kakashi," the raven head said, quoting 'shortcuts' with his fingers.

The masked man simply laughed and assured him that it wasn't. The raven head just rolled his onyx eyes and galanced back out the window to watch to shifting scenery. Honestly, he wasn't really reassured about leaving that pink haired annoyance, I mean what if something bad happens to her? Damn this wound...

"Hey Sasuke, let's play a game."

"No tha-"

"Think of a number, any number."

A sigh, "fine..."

"Have you thought of one?"

The raven head nodded.

"Add a six to that number."

"Do I really have to?"

"I'm bored, and I can't read while driving," Kakashi said as he gestured to 'Icha Icha Paradise'.

"..."

"Right, now add a fifty."

"..."

"Now minus a five."

"..."

"Now minus the number I asked you to think of."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and told him he was done.

"Ah, the number you've receive is fifty-one, am I right?"

"Yes, yes you are. But I already know how the game is played, so trying to amaze me is pointless."

"Eh? You've already figured it out?" The man said with a pout, at least, Sasuke thinks it's a pout... he couldn't tell, you know with the mask on?

"Yeah, I've had it figured out a long time ago..."

"Oh? Who had the plesure of witnessing your reaction?"

"...Itachi," he whispered, just barely audible.

* * *

"I don't understand why you couldn't just use magic to heal me on the day I've been injured," Sasuke scowled and glared at Tsunade.

It had tooken more than half an hour for Kakashi to finally make it back to the village as they were quite lost. Sasuke had been grumbling incoherent words throughout the whole ride as Kakashi only laughed sheepishly at their misfortune. Thank Indra-sama that he didn't die from blood lost and from freezing to death. When they had finally reached the village Sasuke had launched into a mountain of 'I told you so's and 'I should've disagreed with you's. And Shizune had then found both of them by Tsunade's palace doors, Sasuke just barely conscious and Kakashi still laughing sheepishly.

"What's there not to understand? I obviously did it for amusement matters," the busty blonde said as she just finished healing the opened wound.

"Hn, stupid old hag..."

"Don't test me Uchiha, you and I know how easily I can break you, heck, even the whole village knows! And no matter how much you beg for me to heal you I won't," Tsunade said as a vein popped. "Unless you agree on wearing a maid's outfit and serving me for a whole month..." she added as an after thought.

"You know that if I'm here then there's one less person gaurding Sakura right?" The onyx eyed teen said as his glare hardened, completely ignoring the last sentance,.

"Oh...haven't thought that through..."

"You're hopeless..."

* * *

Sasuke stretched his sore muscles as a yawn came to.

"Stupid cat, stop interrupting me. I'm trying to work here!" Tsunade growled, hazel green eyes never leaving her work. "Why are you still here anyway?!"

"Hey, Kakashi told me stay put till he comes back, so technically it's his fault. Put the blame on him not poor old me," he said as another yawn surfaced.

"GOD DAMMIT KAKASHI!"

* * *

"Tsunade-sama? Kakashi has returned," Shizune announced as she walked into the room with Kakashi trailing behind.

"Finally! I couldn't take it anymore with how his tail is always swinging side to side. Oh and the yawning! Oh gawd the _yawning_!" Tsunade wailed as she shook her assistant roughly by the shoulders.

"It wasn't _that _bad," Sasuke said with a growing smirk.

Kakashi stared at him as his tail swayed left to right, showing how much fun he was having. The silver haired man mentally sighed and wondered if the youngest Uchiha was a devil in disguise or he was simply a genius at irritating people if he wants too, and he says Sakura was the annoying one, hah! Sakura was like the most perfect student he could ever ask for. She was smart, listens to his lessons, never talks in class and always hands in her homework on time. Well, Sasuke was kind of the same except for his personality while Sakura was more friendlier, yup, much much more friendlier. Sakura was definitely his favourite student, honest.

"Oh Sasuke, you haven't eaten yet right?" Kakashi questioned and watched as he shook his head in reply.

"Here, I got you some bread and milk," he said as he tossed the plastic bag of things to the raven head, noticing how his ears perked up at the mention of milk. Well, he was half cat...

"Thanks," he replied and rummage through the bag.

At least he knew how to show gratitude once in awhile.

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama," the dark haired assistant said once the blonde sage was done with her wailing. "The Hokage said he would like to speak with you as soon as he was done with his work."

Tsunade froze,"well that was unexpected..."

"Minato-sensei is coming?" He inquired and watched as Tsunade scratched the back of her head and let out a heavy sigh.

"Both of you stay, I would like you to hear what we're about to discuss.

* * *

Kushina grinned as Sasuke averted his gaze. The red head loved teasing the Uchiha ever since he could start talking, it was her hobby you could say. Teasing Sasuke was so much more entertaining than teasing Naruto, ,maybe it was because Sasuke would get all flustered when she teased him while Naruto would just deny everything with that loud voice of his. Although it was so much more fun teasing him with her old best friend Mikoto...now it was just her, with the occasional help of Tsunade and Naruto of course.

"Good afternoon Tsunade-san, Shizune-chan, Kakashi _and _Sasuke-kun!" She greeted as Minato smiled sheepishly and greeted everyone too.

"I didn't know Sasuke would be present," Minato said as his eyes landed on said teen.

His ears twitched. "Well she-" he pointed at Tsunade, "-wanted me too."

"Well 'she' would like some respect from grumpy old you," the blonde said as she crossed her arms and glared at him.

"She's right you know, it wouldn't hurt to show some respect towards your elders, Sasuke," Kakashi said as he side glanced to his former pupil.

"It will hurt, it will hurt my pride," he said, never meeting anyones gaze.

Collective sighs resounded throughout the room as Sasuke grunted and glared at the ground. Honestly, boys and their prides, especially Sasuke and his pride, Kushina didn't get it at all, not even the slightest.

"Anyway, you wanted to discuss something Hokage-sama?" Tsunade inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, yes," he replied, face growing serious. "It's regarding Haruno Sakura."

Kushina watched as Tsunade frowned. "Sakura huh..."

Sasuke was swaying his tail impatiently with a scowl decorating his fetures, arms crossed and all as he waited for the two to continue. It was honestly the most hilarious yet most adorable sight ever, he was like a kid waiting for candy to be given to him. But this candy he was waiting for was information about a girl, a girl who was the same age as him and who he has been stuck with for a month. Could it be that Sasuke was curious about a girl? Shocking!

"I think it's high time we return her original memories to her," Minato said as Sasuke stopped swaying his tail and glanced at him.

Tsunade with a troubled look clenched he fist untill her knuckles turned white, "maybe," she whispered.

"What do you mean 'return her memories'?" The raven head questioned as he uncrossed his arms.

"We mean that the current memories Sakura has of her past is all fake, we even erased her memories of her parents deaths," Minato said with a grave look.

"Why?"

"Because someone is after her, because we had no choice, _they _had no choice..."

"Who?"

"...I'm sure you've heard of Haruno Kizashi?"

A nod.

"His wife, Haruno Mebuki and he himself had to flea to the human relm to avoid harm to Sakura."

"What I don't understand is _who _their fleaing from," Sasuke said, trying not to scowl at the Hokage.

"Well-" Tsunade cut him off.

"First you should know that Sakura has been gifted with strong resistances against Genjutsu and has flawless magic control," the busty blonde said as she held up a finger in counting.

"But the time with the explosion tag-"

"Second, her powers are being obscured by her father's, which is sealed in the necklace."

"...that thing is dangerous."

"I know," she agreed with a nod as Shizune facepalmed, Kushina tilted her head, Minato and Kakashi sighed. "Third and lastly, she was also my former student before her family had to flea."

"...no wonder she packs a punch..."

"And I'm proud of that. But as for the necklace, she can't take it off, no matter how troublesome it may be," Tsunade said with a huff as she rubbed her temples.

"Why? What purpose does it serve?"

"It protects her."

"Yes, but from who?!" The raven head said, he was getting impatient, everyone could tell.

"Before we tell you, you should also know that we plan on transfering his powers to Sakura," the blonde Hokage said, voice steady as he spoke. Sasuke's eyes had widened a fraction when he heard the news as his fist clenched tightly.

"As you know, Haruno Kizashi was a very skilled sorcerer," Kakashi spoke.

"I would say he was a little _too _skilled," Tsunade huffed with crossed arms.

"He even managed to create a forbidden spell," Kushina added as her eyes darted from her husband to the raven head.

Sasuke rose an eyebrow as he eyed each of them. It was as if he were asking them to spill it out already. Honestly, this was the first time Kushina has seen him so agitated over someone. If the mood wasn't so heavy she would have already started teasing him.

Minato sighed, "He only managed to create it, never was he able to master it."

"And what spell might that be?" Sasuke inquired, feet tapping on the ground impatiently.

It was then that Shizune had excused herself, saying that she has to feed Ton Ton, the pet pig.

The room was silent as the closing sound of the door echoed throughout the room. Kushina decided to break the silence as she whispered, "time travel," while looking at the ground.

Minato nodded, "time travel requires delicate control of magic, if something goes wrong then who knows what might happen to the caster of the spell."

Sasuke's eyes widen slightly, "Wait, so Sakura-"

"Yes, we are trying to protect Sakura from Uchiha Madara or as of late, Uchiha Obito," Tsunade said as Kakashi stiftened and Minato held on to Kushina's hand.

"Uchiha Madara is dead," Sasuke deadpanned.

"He is, but Obito wishes to revive him," the silver head man clearified.

The red head gave both Minato and Kakashi sympathetic looks. Uchiha Obito was once Minato's former student and Kakashi's good friend, he was a very good person too as he has helped the elderly countless of times. That was long before a tragedy occured that caused his supposed death. Minato, Kakashi and their other squad member, Nohara Rin had been severely depressed before another misfortune had befallen on them that caused the life of Rin's.

They had only learned that Obito was alive as Naruto had encountered him during one of his missions with Kakashi. They then learned that he was to revive Uchiha Madara for a better world, and for that he needed the Time Travel spell which success rate is highest when cast by Sakura. Kakashi had took the blame on himself when he found out that Obito was doing all this just for Rin.

With a sigh Kushina glaced at ground to find something black scurrying past her feet. She took a deep breath a let out an ear piercing scream.

* * *

It had all happen so fast, and Sasuke wasn't even over his shock on the discussion earlier. A pack of rats had rushed in, climbing the walls and scurrying up the ceiling, they were everywhere. Kushina's scream had resounded once more as Sasuke sighted Minato carrying her in his arms as he sliced some rats with a kunai, causing blood? No, ink to splash on the ground. The rats were mad of ink, huh...so this was a spell that causes drawings to become animated, interesting, he thought as he summoned his lightning blade. He begun slicing, no use in using his Sharingan since these were practically harmless. He glanced at Kakashi who was rapidly slicing them with his summoned lightning blade too as Tsunade was crushing some with her fists and feet...messy.

The raven head scaned the room, trying to find where the rodents were coming from, but no such luck as he was already busy trying not to let them climb over him. One of them bit him, one of those fucking rodents fucking _bit _him! He growled as he stabed every rat that came in his line of view and decided to summon Aoda, the snake he had signed a contract with.

"You needed me Sasuke-sama?" It hissed, eyeing the rats with a predatory look.

"Yeah, these rats, do not eat them, they're made of ink and I don't want you swallowing up some and getting a stomach ache later on," he said as stabed a few more, lightning crackling non stop.

"So am I to asist in killing them then?"

"Yes, that would be very much appreciated, Aoda."

"As you wish Sasuke-sama," it hissed and slithered off. And just as Sasuke expected, killing these things became ten times more easier as Aoba killed them of easily. Tsunade cursed and said of all the times Orochimaru decided to show up now might actually be a good time. The raven head had thought to summon his hawk but that might wear him out faster...

"Holy Hagoromo, where the fuck are these things coming from anyway?! They just keep pilling up!" Tsunade yelled as a rat squeaked when she stomped on it.

"Sasuke, use your Sharingan to find the source!" Kakashi yelled from the other side of the room.

Sasuke did as he was told and scaned the room once more, but this time with his Sharingan. Red eyes scaned every corner of the room until he spotted a shadow figure knelt outside the window. He threw a Shuriken as the enemy dodged and chuckled before retreating further into the forest.

* * *

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama!" Shizune cried as she burst through the double doors, leaving it open as she rushed to Tsunade's side. She was covered in black ink too, panting for breath as she stood by Tsunade.

"Shizune? There were more of those lil fuckers outside?!" The blonde Sage exclaimed once she saw the condition her assistant was in.

"Those rats? There was a whole pack! They were everywhere!" She said, raising her hands in emphasis.

Sasuke watched in amusement as Tsunade started cursing fairly loud, loud enough for the whole room to hear as she stomped her feet on the ground before slipping on some ink and landing on her bottom. He hid a snicker as he turned to his gaze to Kakashi, Minato and Kushina who were discussing on the rat matter, Kushina's eyes darting around the room every so often for any left over traces of the rats as she tried combing ink out of her hair.

Sasuke was propped up against the wall as he was catching his breath, he had just let Aoba return home and was greatful for his help in cleaning up the left over ink rats, though he came close to eating one Sasuke was glad he didn't. But who would do such a thing and why? For plesure? For fun? For amusement? The raven head glared at the ground, they looked like fools just now, killing rats that were only made of ink, making them run around and getting themselves stained in black, like fools I tell ya fools! If only they had sensed the caster sooner, but they were busy discussing about Sakura...

He heaved a sigh, still glaring at the ground, so Sakura played a really important role in that Obito guy's plans. But Time Travel though...

That was when Ino, Sakura and Hinata came rushing in, Ino rushing towards Tsunade and Shizune, Hinata rushing towards Kakashi, Minato and Kushina as Sakura stood by the door. He didn't bother showing that he notice her or not as he leaned against the wall with one leg up and an arm propped on top of it. Sakura slowly walked towards him, making him slightly stiften as she knelt beside him.

"What happened?" She questioned softly.

"Rats," was his simple reply as he let himself drown in her emerald irises.

* * *

"Rats?"

"Rats," Tsunade replyed as she glared at both Jiraya and Orochimaru who were sending her amuse looks.

"So rats," Jiraya said as he stroke his chin.

"I WILL SMASH YOUR BALLS IF YOU DON'T QUIT IT!" She roared with a heated glared.

"Yes ma'am," he said in a surrendering pose as he raised both his hands, Orochimaru rolled his eyes at them.

Sakura stared at the three in curiousity as Sasuke yawned in both bordem and sleepiness. Minato and Kushina had introduce themselves to Sakura as Naruto's parents and Minato as the Hokage while Sasuke kept himself from falling asleep.

"So you must be Sakura, huh,"Kushina exclaimed as she examined the pinkette from head to toe, trying to act as if she doesn't know her from the past.

"She's grown up so beautiful," Sasuke heard her whisper to Tsunade as the blonde's eyes soften.

"Um, nice to meet you both," Sakura said as she tried averting her gaze.

"No need to be scared Sakura, we won't bite," the blonde Hokage said with a warm smile as Kushina gave her a teasing wink.

"O-okay," she said as Hinata placed her hand on her shoulder for support.

"So, before this we were discussing about your memories," Minato slowly said as he watched for her reaction.

"My memories?"

"Yes, they're all fake," Kakashi said, quickly getting to the point, not wanting to beat around the bush.

"Eh? Wh-what do you mean?" The pinkette questioned. Sasuke noticed her hand trembling, even with her friend's support she was still scared, huh...deciding not to regret it later, he took her hand into his and squeezed it lightly to get her attention. It did as she gave him a look of shock before giving him a small smile.

"Well, what Kakashi means is that your memories of the past are all fake, and we would like to return the original ones to you," Minato calmly said.

"Why? Why did you take them away in the first place?" She was squeezing his hand now.

"That's a little harder to explain," he sighed and glanced to Tsunade who rolled her eyes and stepped forward.

"Well, I'm covered in ink and would like to explain this quickly and take a bath after, if you don't mind."

"I don't. As long as I get answers this time," Sakura firmly said.

"Right, your parents, do you know where they are?" Tsunade inquired, eyes steady.

The pinkette furrowed her brow, "they're at home aren't they?"

Ino shifted and glanced at Tsunade urgently who in turn frowned and nodded her head.

Sasuke creased his thumb over her knuckles soothingly to prepare her for the up coming news.

"Your parents have passed away, " Tsunade said quietly as Ino released the spell casted on the pinkette with a "Kai!"

The pinkette stood still, never wavering as tears descended down her face. "I remember now...the cold nights I stood at their graves, asking them why they left me alone, it was so cold...and the flowers..." she paused and glanced at Ino.

"Was it you?" She questioned as Ino nodded her head. Her hand went limp in Sasuke's as he watched her carefully.

"We have returned your memories to you, although it will take some time for you to recall the rest of it," Tsunade said gently.

"I-I have to go," she said as she snatched her hand from Sasuke's.

"Sakura-" Ino tried.

"I have to go, you guys can tell me the rest of the story some other time, but right now _I have to go,_" she said firmly and dashed off.

"...I'm going after her and none of you can stop me,"Sasuke said and started walking.

"Do you know where she's headed to?" Orochimaru questioned.

Sasuke stopped and looked back, "I think I have a pretty good idea."

* * *

Sakura shoved her way out of the train as she ran, and ran, and ran, never once stopping to greet people who knew her from her daily visits...or what used to be her daily visits. She ran past everything and everyone in her way, yelling a 'sorry' when she accidently bumped into someone's shoulder as she never once stopped running, never stopping to catch her breath, never stopping when she nearly tripped on a rock. All she could think of was reaching her destination as she ran through the familiar route she was accustomed to, everything passing by in a blur.

The wheather was getting bad as gray clouds gathered around the neighbourhood, little droplets of rain water already drizzling down on to the sidewalks, streets, near by trees and rooftops of houses. Summer rain, huh...the pinkette thought. She used to love rain in Summer, party was because it wasn't so hot, and partly because it was always peaceful with how the bugs always resound their tune to the rain, but right now she didn't feel like enjoying the rain as thunder roared in the distance and she shivered from the cold. She regreted not bringing her jacket with her, but it was Summer and she didn't think she would be in this kind of predicament.

By the time she reached her desired destination she was soaked to the bone as her clothes clung to her like second skin. She panted while slowly walking past each grave stone as her eyes scaned for the familiar names of her parents. She halted as she stood by her parents graves, they looked the same as always, the only difference was that there was no flowers, not that she was expecting any at a time like this. She knelt eye level with the grave stones, not caring that she will dirty herself, not caring that she was freezing half to death, not caring that her white uniform was practically transparent as she brushed some water away from her father's name, then her mother's. Her dried up tears resurfacing as she let them spill, curling her legs against her chest as she cried silently with the rain.

That was the position Sasuke had found her in as he slowly walked up to her and stood by her side, his left hand stuffed in his pocket, a black umbrella in his other hand as it covered the both of them.

"This was the place we first met wasn't it?" She said softly, not even lifting her head to look at him.

"Hn," he replied as his hold on the umbrella tightened.

"You know, I just recalled the memory of my dad giving me this necklace, his face looked so serious that I could hardly take him serious," she said in a small voice and laughed humourlessly.

"Aa," he replied as his grip tightened around the umbrella's handle, the other hand in his pocket clenching tightly into a fist.

"And you know on the day you went berserk while I was still unconscious?" She asked, voice cracking. "I think I also recalled a memory...two in fact. It was about Ino giving me a red ribbon for my forehead, and the other one was me meeting Naruto and the others at a ramen stall..." she trailed of as she finally lifted her head.

Her eyes were puffy and red, shining emerald green eyes not as lively as before as her bubblegum pink hair was in tangles. Her light green bra was visible through her uniform shirt as her shoes and legs were covered in mud and grass. In all honesty she looked pathetic, pathetically week. Why do girls have to be so good at looking so pathetic? And this one was already annoying!

"Hey, Sasuke? Do you sometimes feel alone and that the whole world is against you? Even when you know that it's not true-"

Stop.

"-you just can't help but feel like you're trapped in a box made by yourself, and-"

Stop!

"-no one can open that box for you as you wait and wait and wait. You then realize that no one will come for you and-"

STOP!

He cut her off as he threw the umbrella to one side and hugged her small form. She felt so fragile in his arms that he didn't dare hug her anymore tighter or she might break. How was such a fragile person so strong at the same time? She had to go through her parents deathes by herself while he had Naruto to comfort him, living alone in that house for a year with no company around, it must have been so hard for her, she even has to work part-time for Susano'o's sake!

"Sasuke-"

"I'll protect you, I promise," he said firmly as the rain soaked through his shirt.

More tears weld up by the corners of her eyes as she sobbed and said, "but who will protect _you_?"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: I did it! 10, 231 words! Oh my god, it was hell! But I enjoyed none the less. If you guys like the length of this chapter I can keep this up in the next one, so review if you have the time!**


	12. Chapter 11: Silence

Chapter 11: Silence

_"Sasuke-teme, Sasuke-teme!" A seven year old Naruto called as he waited for his friend to respond. Once the raven head acknowledged him, the blonde excitedly claimed a seat beside him and chimed "guess what, guess what!" _

_"What?" He replied with disinterest._

_"There's a girl in my class with pink hair, pink! And it's not like an average type of pink, it's like cotton candy pink. Isn't that cool?!" Naruto said with gleaming eyes._

_"So...what do you want me to do about it?"_

_"Nothing really, I just thought I'd tell you this interesting information. Seems like she's friends with that Ino or somethin'..." he said with furrowed brows._

_"And what does that have anything to do with me?" Sasuke inquired._

_"Well, Imma' befriend her!" The determined blonde declared before rushing off, leaving a confused raven head to figure out the point of that useless conversation._

_He knew Naruto liked befriending people for no apparent reason, but so out of the blue like that? And the only reason was because this person-or girl had pink hair? What if she only dyed it? It couldn't possibly be natural, right? I mean, what girl had pink hair? Sasuke decided to forget this conversation ever happened and continued eating the bento his mother had prepared for him._

_On a lovely wheather like this, eating outside was the best, under a shady tree where no fangirls would bother him._

* * *

_"Hey, I think you have cool hair. Let's be friends!" Naruto said with an outstretched hand towards the pinkette._

_Sakura only stared at his hand with curiosity before directing her gaze towards Ino as both giggled at Naruto's actions._

_"Wh-what's so funny? Did I do something wrong?"_

_The pinkette shook her head and smiled as she then said "you should introduce yourself before asking to befriend someone. I'm Haruno Sakura by the way."_

_"Oh~ Hi Sakura-chan! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo!"_

_"Nice to meet you Naruto," she said and shook his hand before gesturing to Ino."This is Yamanaka Ino, my best friend ."_

_"Hello," Ino said as she made a peace sign towards the whiskered blonde._

_"Hello, Ino!" Naruto greeted as he returned the gesture._

_Sasuke stood at the doorway of Naruto's classroom before shrugging and heading back to his own classroom just as the bell signaling the end of recess rang. So there really was such a girl with pink hair, who knew? Well, all he knew was that he wouldn't want to get acquainted with such a weird girl._

XYXYXYXYXYXY

Sasuke stared at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes, the sound of running water resounding from the bathroom Sakura had went in. He had himself leaning against the couch, cleaned and dried from his bath, his hair was still slightly damp as stray hair clung to his face. Rain was pouring outside and didn't seem to have lighten up for hours. Sasuke hated Summer rains, it was wet and humid. He stared at the living room ceiling as thunder roared outside.

It was times like these that the raven head wondered why he never got a TV. It was boring and he had nothing to do, also, his phone ran out of battery. Although even if he did own a TV he wouldn't be home that much, it would be such a waste of money to buy one and not use it much, no?

His thoughts then wondered back to when both he and Sakura was at the cemetary. _"Then who would protect you?"_huh... She had ask him that and his reply was simple _"I'll protect myself."_ He said that on his own accord, but did he really mean it? In truth he just doesn't want anyone to protect him. He doesn't really care either. People sometimes say stuff like that, but in reality it's just lip service. Although after witnessing what he knows as one of the strongest females he has ever met break down right in front of him like that, he finally knows the reason why people would go so far as to say they'll protect the ones they love. They don't want to see them get hurt, simple and yet it took him a long time to realize it.

Love... How long has it been since he used that word? Years. Does this mean something? He doesn't know and is too tired to think about it.

The sound of running water came to a sudden stop as Sasuke's ears picked up on the sound of a door opening, shuffling noise then followed as the pinkette then appeared in his line of sight.

She stood there awkwardly and avoided his gaze as she then slowly walked over to where he was seated and stood before him. Her cheeks were adorned by a blush as she awkwardly cleared her throat. What was wrong with her? Is she embarrassed? For what reason though? He sat up and carefully watched as she played with the necklace around her neck, a habit he seemed to have notice her doing when she was nervous.

"I...um...wanted to thank you for...you know...tolerating my behaviour just now. I wasn't acting like my usual se-self so...um..."

He studied her small form as her gaze traveled to her feet. Her finges twiching and playing with her necklace still. So she was embarrassed because of that... If Sasuke didn't have any self-control he would have bursted out laughing with his head thrown back, instead he only let out a small chuckle that seemed to have gotted her attention as her head shot up. She glared at him, face still covered in a light blush as it deepened with her heated glare.

"Wh-what's so funny?!" She fumed and stomped her right foot.

"You!" He said in between chuckles. This girl was just too amusing to ignore.

"Hmph!" She said and sat beside him on the couch, arms crossed as she faced away from him.

"Are you seriously going to pout because of that?"

She ignored him.

He smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he leaned closer to her and blew into her ear. She squeaked and backed away from him, her face several shades deeper than before as she cover her ear with both her hands. Her expression was shown to be like a deer caught in headlights, startled and innocent. He let out another wave of chuckles as she regained her composure and glared at him once more.

"Sicko!" She sneered.

His chuckles slowly came to a stop as he sent her a smug look. She was pouting again, "you just _love _messing with me don't you?"

"Hn," he said as silence slowly settled between the two.

Sakura had removed her hands from the ear he had blew into and was seated a few inches away from him, she had casted him a look of suspicion before relaxing and leaning against the couch. He rose a brow at her before doing the same and closing his eyes. The rain had finally lighten up a bit as the calming sound of it nearly put him to sleep. He may hate the Summer rain, but it was always a go to if he ever needed a nap and couldn't fall asleep.

He remembered when he was younger, he would lay on his mother's lap during days like this and when his father and brother weren't around. They would both watch the rain fall from the skies as she would stroke his hair and let him sleep off yesterday's harsh training, telling him to stay strong. With half-lidded eyes, he would listen as his mother would hum a soft and soothing tone that would knock him out instantly and send him off to dreamland.

Those days were the peaceful days where he didn't need to worry about dying tomorrow.

On an outsider's opinion, the Uchiha clan would seem stiff and formal, like royalty. But because it was a powerful clan it was feared by many since long before, skilled magicians and sorcerers even know to avoid this clan. Their police force was also known throughout the land as one of the best, and Sasuke was proud to say that his father was the head of it all. But that was from an outsider's opinion, in truth the Uchiha clan was as peace loving as anyone out there. Everyday Sasuke would wake up to the smell of his mother's cooking, he would then greet his father Good Morning before claiming a seat beside Itachi. His younger self would then insist that Itachi was to train him after breakfast, but of course Itachi was always busy and would only poke his forehead while saying a "maybe next time, Sasuke" as he would then disappear to whatever work he had to do.

It was always like that. Itachi seldom had time to spend with his family, his father didn't seem to mind, but his mother on the other hand would sometimes seem lonely, that's why he would try to spend as much time as he could with his mother. Oh and don't get him wrong, it wasn't like he hates his father, his father just seems to pay much more attention to Itachi than him. He always compares him and Itachi... He could see why though, Itachi was a prodigy.

Peaceful times then came to an end as on one full moon night, everything went from right to wrong.

"Sasuke...you're crying..."

His eyes snapped open at the sound of Sakura's concerned voice. She was casting him a look of worry. That was when he felt the moisture on his cheeks and how tight his fists were clenched, he had clenched it hard enough for little cresent shapes to appear on his palm and the cut was deep enough to draw some blood too. He quickly wiped the moisture of his cheeks and ignore the look Sakura was giving him.

"Why? What's wrong?" She asked, still worried.

"Nothing," he mumbled and looked away from her piercing gaze.

"Don't nothing me! You were crying for Haguromo's sake! What-hey! Sasuke?!" She stopped as he laid on her lap.

"Just shut up Sakura," he mumbled as he faced away from her, using his arm to shield his face. Good thing he did so, otherwise she would have seen how red his face had gotten. But of course he wasn't the only one embarrassed by his actions, Sakura too was as red as a tomato.

* * *

Tsunade watched with pride as Sakura managed to make the fish laying on the table jump back to life. The fish flailed and thrashed helplessly on the table as if it were begging to be released back into the waters, little did it know that it was going to be Tsunade's dinner tonight. The pinkette beamed at the busty blonde and clasped her hands behind her back and watched as the fish continuously flapped its fins and flailed non-stop.

"So I see you got your memories of healing magic back, Sakura!" Tsunade laughed and slapped her on the back, making her jerk forward. "Now let's see if you got your memories of combat magic back."

"Hai, shishou!" Sakura giddily said and smiled. She was honestly glad that she received her original memories back, if not she would've gone mad trying to comprehend whatever was going on, not that she understood whatever was going on now though.

"Oh yeah, before we test your combat magic, can I ask how things are going with that Uchiha brat?" The blonde questioned as they both head towards the training grounds side by side.

At the mention of Sasuke, a light blush graced her features as she stared at her moving feet. True he did behave unusually from his normal self yesterday, but that didn't really give her an explination on why she blushed in the first place. I mean what if Tsunade caught her blushing? She would definitely question the pinkette.

"You're blushing Sakura, what's that about?"

Well, damn.

"Mu-must be the heat. It _is _Summer after all," she said and darted her gaze away from Tsunade's. She mentally cursed herself for stopping Tsunade from drinking this morning, her mentor was very sharp when she wasn't drunk, and she definitely didn't need her mentor questioning her and Sasuke's current relationship. Actually, she didn't even know what their current relationship was. Why was she even having a mental debate about their relationship anyway? It wasn't as if they've done anything worth mentioning in that book Kakashi always has with him. They didn't even do anything worth mentioning at all! So why is she blushing?!

_Maybe it's the heat genius _or _you have feelings for the guy._

Maybe the freaky voice in her head was right. Maybe she did have feelings for Sasuke.

_Hun, I_ know _I'm right. Oh and who ya callin' freaky voice?! Have you forgotten about Inner Sakura?!_

Sakura ignored the freaky voice in her head and zoomed back to reality, where Tsunade was scrutinizing her. Her brows were furrowed and she had a look of suspicion while studying her. She fidgeted under the hazel eyes of Tsunade as the blonde then sighed and said nothing more.

Once they reached the training grounds, Tsunade had gestured to a large boulder and had asked her to smash it, so she did. The blonde Sage nodded approvingly at her pupil with a proud smirk plastered on her face before dismissing her, saying she had paper work to do and Sake to drink. Sakura smiled despite knowing that Tsunade was going to drink herself silly before lunch time and never finish her work on time as she watched her mentor's retreating back.

Now, what was she to do on such a lovely Saturday?

* * *

"Damn it all, damn it all, damn it all, damn it all- Agh! Fucking shoe heel broke on me!" Ino shrieked as she rubbed her sore ankle. "And I fucking twisted my ankle... No thanks to those cheap shoes!" She grumbled then sighed.

Whatever made her think that going shopping alone would be fun? Oh wait, she had no choice but to go shopping alone seeing as no one was free. Hinata was out with Naruto (not that Ino was mad at her for that), Sakura just got her memories back and Tsunade refused to let her go anywhere until she had completely recovered all of her memories (the poor girl), Tenten had soccer practice (seriously? Ino doesn't know how the girl could possibly move around so much...) and Temari was out with Gaara and Kankuro (damn those two!).

So here she was, alone at the mall with no friends. She bit her lip and stared at her swollen ankle. She could always heal it with healing magic, but with this many people around she didn't think she could. So what now? She could limp her way back, even if there will be a lot of pain, good thing she only bought a few things today.

Just as she was about stand, a familiar voice stopped her. "Ah, if it isn't Ino-san!"

Her head snapped to her left to find Sai standing just a few feet away. He gave her a curt nod before settling beside her, only just noticing that he had brought a few art supplies with him did Ino give him some space to place them on the wooden bench they currently ocupied.

"What brings you here, Sai-kun?" Ino questioned as she sat up straight, trying to ignore the throbbing pain of her swollen ankle.

"Well as you can see, I've come here to buy some art supplies, since I was running out of them," he said as he gestured to the items placed beside him. "And you?"

"Oh, um...shopping...by myself..."

"Whatever happened to Ugl- I mean Sakura-san?"

"She's uh...caught up with other things," the blonde said while twirling a strand of hair between her index finger and middle finger while avoiding his gaze. She just hoped that he wouldn't question what those 'other things' were.

"I see..."

Oh hey, he didn't ask!

"...so no other friend of your's could accompany you on your shopping trip?" He asked with a (cute) head tilt.

"They're all busy and I didn't want to force them... So here I am," she said with a shrug.

"Well aren't you the generous one."

"You flatter me," the baby-blue eyed teen said with an upcoming smile.

"I beg to differ. What I said is the truth," he said and smiled.

Ino blushed and averted her gaze once more. Was this seriously happening to her?! Yamanaka Ino, get a hold of yourself! Wasn't _she _suppose to be flirting with the guy and not the other way around?! Wait, _is _he flirting with her? He is isn't he! Just the thought of it made her feel funny inside.

"So Ino-san, what say we grab ourselves some smoothies?" He offered as he got up.

"Firstly, drop the formalities and just call me Ino. Secondly, I'd love to," she said and attempted to get up, but failed as her twisted ankle prevented her from doing so. She mentally cursed, she didn't think that it was twisted _that _badly.

"May I ask what is wrong with your foot?" He questioned, eyes landing on her swollen ankle.

"Uh...I twisted my ankle just now. No thanks to these cheap shoes!" She said, gesturing to said shoes. "But I think I'm good enough to walk."

"I don't think you should force yourself Ino-sa-" he stopped himself at her glare. "-I mean Ino."

"So what do you suggest?"

"...how about I carry you?"

She blenched. She then blinked and wondered if she heard right. Him? Carry her? Had he gone mad? Or was it her that was insane...either way, it was still embarrassing. Not to mention that there were quite a lot of people at the mall.

Sai laughed. "Do you really underestimate me that much?"

"Wha- of course not! It's just that...there're a lot of people right now..."

"Do other people's opinion really matter to you? They're just strangers to us."

She stared at him and reluctantly agreed. Sai had even offered to carry her things, but she declined and told him that carrying her was already enough. He just shrugged and got on his knees, telling her that he'll be ready whenever she was. She steady eased herself on him and encircled her arms around his neck, making sure to hold on to her things, including her miracle making shoes. He then heaved her up, only then noticing that he didn't have enough hands to hold his art supplies, so Ino offered to carry them.

She felt blessed honestly. And here she was thinking that today was going to be bad day. Nothing could possibly ruin this moment.

"You know Ino, you're quite heavy."

She whacked him on head.

* * *

"I'm telling you Sasuke-teme, if it's the ink rat culprit you're looking for then it has got to be that Sai dude!" Naruto exclaimed. "I mean he-his smile! Yeah, doesn't it seem off?! It's creepy as hell!"

Sasuke rubbed his temples to rid of the up coming headache. He knew Naruto means well, but even if it was that new student Sai, what proof did he have that it was his doing? Unless they had solid proof, they couldn't simply just drag an innocent human into their affairs (well, excluded Sakura's friends and that other dude), so unfortunately it was up to Sasuke to drill it into that thick skull of Naruto's.

The raven head dragged out a long sigh and glared at the blonde knucklehead, who was (unfortunately) still talking. He glanced to the side, where the Hyuga heiress was patiently sipping on her green tea beside the blonde. He rolled his eyes and glanced back at Naruto who was (surprise!) still talking.

Sasuke cleared his throat and glanced at the blonde, no reaction. So he did it a second time, still nothing. Well third times the charm, right? He cleared his throat for the third time, and it finally got the idiot's attention.

"Wow teme, you have a sore throat or something? Cause you've been doing that for awhile now," Naruto asked, concerned about his friend and annoyed that he interupted him.

"No. I did that on purpose."

"Why?"

"Cause I wanted to annoy you," he said monotoneously and gave the blonde a pointed look.

"Are you tempting me to punch you?!"

"No idiot, sit down and listen to me."

"TEME!" Naruto growled and grabed the collar of the raven head's shirt.

Sasuke mentally sighed. This is what happens if you befriend an idiot. Luckily he chose a good day to talk to the blonde, I mean Hinata was with him, so he wouldn't get _that _worked up. He calmly tried prying Naruto's fingers off him as Hinata tried calming him down. Normally Sasuke would've fought back, but he was too tired to. These past few days were tiring, and he hasn't been getting enough sleep lately.

When Hinata finally managed to seperate the two and got Naruto to calm down, Sasuke took a sip of his tea and watched as Naruto glared at him. "Are you done, dobe? Can I speak now?"

"Go ahead," he grumbled.

"Firstly, you know that this Sai person you mentioned may be innocent, right? I mean just because he commented on your dick, doesn't mean he is against us," Sasuke stated and watched for the blonde's reaction, it was of course as entertaining as per usual.

"N-no-not in front of Hinata are we having this discusson! Besides, I defended you when he called you gay!"

A tired sigh, "yes, but that doesn't mean he is responsible for the ink rats. And if he is, we'll need proof... By the way, he called you gay too."

"Then I'll find proof! And I am not gay!" Naruto announced and stood up from his seat, which earned an "Eh?" from a confused Hinata.

"Dobe, are you even listening to yourself?! You're suspecting a guy who smiles creepy and insulted you! You know you're going to get in trouble if he isn't the culprit, right?" Sasuke fumed and stood up to glare at the blonde.

"Dammit! Hyuga-" Hinata jumped at the mention of her family name, "-fool's gone mad, help me out here!"

"Eh?! Um... Na-Na-Na-Naruto-kun, don't be rash!"

Sasuke facepalmed. These people will be the death of him...

"Don't worry Hinata-chan, I'll be fine!"

The raven head seriously thought about his life choices. Of all the people that could have been his best friend, this guy, this knuckledheaded blonde idiot was his choice. Why?Why?! WHY?! He couldn't just wait until they got a better lead? Sasuke seriously needed a cat-nap, and fast...

"Infact, I'll go find that Sai bastard now!" Sasuke started to leave. "And Sasuke-teme is coming with me!"

He paused. No. There is no way in hell that this idiot will drag him around all day to spy on someone he thinks is the culprit! He was going to take a cat-nap and that was final! No way was Naruto going to force him to help find proof of the ink rat incident!

* * *

Sakura laughed at the raven head who was laying dead on the couch.

"So he managed to drag you around all day and both of you still found nothing? Unbeliveable," she said and giggled as Sasuke grunted in response. "Still though, I can't belive you even agreed to help him."

"He said he wouldn't bother me for a week if I helped..." grumbled Sasuke as he sat up and eyed Sakura who was standing by the stairway.

"But you wasted your energy for nothing," she said and giggled once more as Sasuke yawned.

"Hn."

"So Naruto suspects Sai huh..."

"Wait, you know the guy?"

"He's in the same class as Naruto and we have joint art class together. Although, you didn't attend this week's joint art class..." Sakura mused and continued at look of Sasuke's confused expression, "you know, the guy we bumped into yesterday."

It then suddenly dawned on Sasuke that what Naruto said about this Sai person maybe true, they had to keep an eye on the guy, he might be dangerous. The ink rat incident may also have a connection with the paper bomb incident... That guy with the creepy smile, is what Naruto had interpreted him as.

"Sakura," he called.

"Yeah?"

"Please don't go anywhere without me around."

"Er... Sasuke? I'm gonna have to go to the toilet alone you know," she joked.

"I'm serious Sakura! Don't go anywhere without me around," he snapped and glared at her. Stupid girl can't understand...

Her jaw set, like she was ready to leash out at him. "Look Sasuke, I got my memories back. I know how to fight, I know healing magic, I can protect myself!" She growled and glared back at him.

Sasuke was taken aback. _She _will protect herself?

"Sakura," he growled out as a warning, fist clenched by his side.

"I'm not weak, Sasuke-"

"I didn't say you were-" he started but got cut off.

"I'm not an object to be handed around aimlessly to someone and be protected by them-"

"Sakura," he growled out as a second warning.

"What Sasuke?! What, do you want?! You're going to say I'm annoying again aren't you? You-I knew you only promised to protect me because you think I'm weak! Well I'm not! Last night...when I asked who will protect you, you said you will protect _yourself_?! I know you're strong, but don't kid yourself Sasuke-" she gasped as Sasuke's hands shot to the wall beside her head, biting her lower lip when she noticed his harsh glare was accompanied by the Sharingan. No longer was he seated on the couch, but glowering before her.

"Are you done?" He tried asking as calmly as he could, but with how angry he felt right now it sounded more like a growl.

She stood still, firmly rooted to her spot and glared at his glowering form, but her hands were clenched tightly by her chest and her lower lip was quivering. It only reminded him how annoying she was, trying to act brave when she was scared. It also somehow managed to remind him of the time he went hunting with Itachi when he was younger. The wild mountain boar nearly made him shit his pants, if it weren't for Itachi's presence he would've turned tail and ran. But the girl in front of him faced things on her own, she was brave when she was scared, she was scared when she was brave. She wasn't weak, she was strong, and that was all the more reason for Sasuke to protect her.

"Since when did I ever say you were weak? Name me one time and you'll win this argument."

Silence as she only continued to glare at him.

"I never did, did I? You're not weak, you're far from weak, you're strong..." his glare softened as the Sharingan slowly faded away, leaving his onyx eyes visible once more. His head lowered as he spoke. "...I think I envy you for that..."

The pinkette's glare immediatly disappeared as she stared at him. Was he acting weird again? He was like this yesterday too. Maybe it was the lack of sleep that was causing him to show vulnerability to her.

"I'm not strong..." she whispered. "...I just don't want to be weak."

"I'm not strong either, Sakura... I only said I'll protect myself because I'm scared that if I let people protect me then they'll only suffer," he leaned in some more as she took a step back, making her connect with the cold wall.

"You don't have to trouble yourself with me..."

"I was ordered to protect you...and didn't I promise to protect you too?" She visibly shuddered as his warm breath fanned her face. "Uchihas never break their promises...and I'm protecting you because I want to," was it him or did her lips seemed more plum today?

"Erm... Sasuke? Don't you think you're a little close?" She said, trying to sink into the wall.

"My bad," he said but didn't budge. "You don't like it?"

"Well, I don't hate it per say..." she mumbled and avoided his gaze.

"Huh...I wonder if you'll hate it if I do this," he said and closed the gap between them.

She made a sound that almost sounded like a gasp, but she didn't risist as she let her hands rest on his chest. Sasuke's right hand rested on her waist as he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss as her hands traveled up to play with the ends of his hair. Sakura was a beginner at this, he could tell by her hesitating movement and how shyly she was kissing him back. He then wondered if she ever kissed anyone before him, like a past boyfriend or crush. But again, judging by how careful she was taking this, he didn't she did. He licked her lower lip, causing her gasp, so he took the opportunity to slid his tongue in and explore her mouth.

He felt her tugging at his hair and smirked into the kiss, she was already out of air. He broke the kiss and stared at her flushed face, she was avoiding his gaze as she pursed her lips, shyly playing with the ends of his hair. Just as she was about to say something, he dived for her neck, which earned another gasp from her as he trailed butterfly kissed to her collarbone.

"Uh, Sa-Sasuke? I don't really think-" she let out a moan as his bit into her skin, smirking when her grip on his hair tightened.

"You don't think what?"

"...nevermind..."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: Done! And no excuses to why I was late this time. So I just hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter, cause I didn't really liked how I wrote it... I could change it, but I don't know where to start, so I'll leave it like this. Oh and I know this is shorter than the previous chapter, but I didn't really know if you guys liked the length of the previous one, so there's my reason. Review, cause I need motivation!**

**-Y**


	13. Chapter 12: Tinted

Chapter 12: Tinted

She woke up with a start, panting as she wiped the sweat off her brows. A nightmare. Strange. She had stopped having nightmares ever since her parents passed on. So why now? Were things going to go wrong once again?

Her lips formed a thin line as she got out of bed, the rustling noises of the leaves as the wind blew on them resounding from outside. With careful steps, she slowly opened the door to her room, the slight creaking sound of the door hinges not effecting her as she stepped out the door. She walked soundlessly towards the kitchen and paused when she noticed the lights on.

Sasuke was awake.

This was too much of a coincidence to even be funny. She touched her lips and blushed. Ah...fate, what a kind soul you are. Well, she could never really go back to sleep after a nightmare. Unless she had something warm to drink (all except coffie of course), then only will she be able to fall back asleep. But considering that Sasuke was in the kitchen now... No. She'll have to deal with not falling asleep for now. It was just to awkward for her.

She turned on her heels to head back to her room, nearly jumping out of her skin when Sasuke called out to her.

"...can't sleep?"

"...uh huh..." she managed through her rapidly beating heart.

"Nightmares?"

She stiftened and mumbled out a "how'd you know?" Her back still facing him as she spoke.

Somehow, she could tell that he shrugged when he said "lucky guess..."

She frowned. She had never really had the courage to console him about it, about the nightmares he constantly had, about the lack of sleep showing underneath his eyes. Why? She didn't want to him to close up. Sasuke tends to avoid touchy subjects, she didn't even know of his family's death until Itachi told her about it. Either he doesn't trust her enough or he doesn't want her to worry. She would have compared him to a mimosa plant if not for his rough personality.

She didn't want to pry, she had to patiently wait. Even if she did want to ask him directly, she wouldn't know how to approach him.

"...do you have any tea?" She tried asking to break the silence.

"I'll go check," he muttered and head back into the kitchen.

She unconsciously let out a realived breath and followed behind him. Stepping into the kitchen, she was met with Sasuke's bare back. Right...Sasuke slept shirtless... She mused and hoped that her beating heart wouldn't be heard by him as she walked closer to his being. She allowed herself to watch (admire) him for awhile as he rummaged through the cabinets before offering him some help.

He replied with a tired sigh and nodded to her question. She started searching and instead found a box of instant ramen hidden behind a few cans of tomato soup. With a raised eyebrow, she picked a cup up for emphasis and questioned him about it.

"Naruto," was his simple reply as he then let out another tired sigh and announced that he was out of tea.

She bit her lower lip. "I can't really go back to sleep without drinking something warm."

She swears she saw him smirk and heard him mumble out a "cute," before turning away from her and grabbing a can of tomato soup. "Will this do?"

"Yes please..." she muttered. She wasn't in the mood for tomato, but she won't be picky, 'beggars can't be choosers' right?

As the soup was boiling, Sakura decided it was best for her to wait in the living to avoid the awkwardness. Once she announced her departure, Sasuke simply nodded, eyes still trained on the boiling soup, she didn't know wheather she was relieved or disappointed, but shrugged it off and head to the living room.

She sighed and dropped on the couch, head resting against the armrest as she stared vacantly at the ceiling.

Point one for avoiding awkwardness.

* * *

"Do you...uh...want to talk about it?"

Her head shot up when he finished his question. Talk about it? Talk about what exactly? Was he referring to this evening's events? Was she not uh...what's the term? Oh yeah! Was she not good enough? It scared her to think that really, not being able to catch up with him, she was a beginner to all this...what is 'this' anyway...? Their relationship is starting to get more and more confusing as it already is, she didn't even think to call him a friend before, so what was Sasuke to her now? More than friends but not lovers?

She absent mindedly stared at the empty bowl of what used to contain tomato soup, just then realising that she has yet to answer the raven head's question. "T-talk about what, Sasuke?"

"The nightmares..." he said and rose a questioning brow in her direction. "What did you think I was referring to?"

"Oh, uh...nothing important," she sheepishly said and mentally let out a relieved breath. So he wasn't talking about that. He was talking about the nightmares, huh... Her eyes widened, this might actually be a good opportunity to ask him about _his _nightmares!

"Speaking of nightmares, let's talk about yours," she said and grinned in his direction.

Sasuke scowled and glared at her. "...when did you start noticing?"

"A few days ago," she lied.

The raven head rolled his eyes. "Not happening Sakura. I'm only asking because I'm concerned about you, so start talking pinky."

Sakura mocked a dramatic gasp, glaring at him for extra effect. "How dare you call me pinky?!"

Sasuke smirked and leaned in closer. "My mouth, I can say whatever I want."

"Touché. But seriously though, I only had like one nightmare so far, you though had had countless. Oh, and don't lie, the black circles under your eyes says otherwise."

He was silent for awhile, he then got up and exited the kitchen, leaving a pissed pinkette behind. "Seriously?! Again?!" She grumbled, remembering that the same thing had happened in the past as she quickly placed the bowl into the sink before tailing after him.

"Sasuke?" She called as she followed him up the stairs. Was it too soon to ask him about the nightmares? Did she make a wrong moved? She pondered as she watched him enter his room. She stood at the doorway as Sasuke picked up a shirt randomly laying on the floor and put it on. She gaped. That was why he made that dramatic exit for?! To put on a shirt?! She was pissed yet disappointed at the same time. She didn't even get to admire his body for long!

He rose a brow at her. "I was getting cold," he shrugged and sat on the bed.

She internally fumed, and here she thought that he had closed himself up! Which is good, right? Talking about the nightmares should help put him at ease, at least that is what she read in a book once. "So you're okay with talking about the nightmares? With me none the less...?"

He shrugged. "...I'm already used to it. Waking up in the middle of the night and staring into black nothingness..."

"You don't have to be so casual about it..." she muttered and plopped down beside him. "...nightmares are scary sometimes...especially when no one is around to comfort you and tell you everything is going to be alright."

"Ah...I use to have someone like that..."

Her heart sank. "Who?"

"My mother..." he breathed out, expression unreadable.

* * *

He watched her reaction from the corner of his eye, she was biting her lower lip and glancing at anything but him. With a sigh, he patted her on the head and left his hand there. "I'm guessing you want to know how she clamed me down from my nightmares?"

A hesitant nod was what he got as a response as his hand dropped from her head.

"Well, first she would make sure that I had something warm to drink," Sakura nodded her head for him to continue.

He smirked. "She would then let me lean on her shoulder-" he pulled her head down to rest on his shoulder. "- Lastly, a kiss on the forehead."

Her eyes widened when he did just that, blushing scarlet red as she shield her face with her hands.

"Good night, Sakura."

* * *

Something was off, Naruto noted as he watched his two best friends avoid eye contact with each other. Well, Sakura was doing all the avoiding while Sasuke was just Sasuke. He continued watching when Sakura accidentally caught Sasuke's gaze and blushed, then quickly averting it as Sasuke sent her his signature smirk before shaking his head and looking out the window next to his seat. Was it just him or the sexsual tension in here is just unbearing?

Yup, something was definitely off.

* * *

"Forehead~" an overly exited Ino sang as she sat in the seat in front of Sakura's.

"Can I help you, pig?" Said forehead questioned with and annoyed look.

"Oh lighten up! The sun is shining, there's not a single cloud in the sky, the weather today is wonderful isn't it?" The blonde giddily exclaimed.

The pinkette looked tooken aback for a second before narrowing her eyes at her friend. "Ino, it's Summer, it's freakin' hot out. And since when have you ever cared for the weather? Are you sick or something?"

"Haha, forehead..."she said in a sarcastic tone, but lightened back up soon after. "Anyway, guess what happened to me yesterday!"

"Either you fell into a huge pot of rainbows and is now suffering from over giddiness or you got a new boyfriend."

Ino rolled her eyes. "No, silly!" Sakura cringed at the word 'silly' as Ino stood up, hands placed on the table as she neared the pinkette's face. "I was asked on a date!"

"So a new boyfriend?" Sakura inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Well...not exactly..." she said as she sat back in her previous seat. "Actually, do drinking smoothies together count as a date?" She mumbled to herself more than to Sakura. She tugged at her pony-tail, eyebrows furrowed.

"Don't stress yourself pig, let's just say you got asked out with the guy you like," Sakura said, noticing how quickly her friend had accepted that anwers as her baby-blue eyes lighted up with mirth.

"Yeah, let's go with that."

"So pry tell, who is the lucky guy?" She questioned, eyes sparked with mischief.

"Sai-kun."

Sakura didn't think anyone had the ability to snap their head at someone that fast, and she was afraid that Sasuke's head might snap off if he continued doing so.

* * *

It would seem that the school roof was a good place for secret meetings and confrontations, cause here she was, with an agitated Naruto walking back and forth and an iritated Sasuke glaring at the ground.

"What-"

"This is bad Sakura-chan!" Naruto bellowed in her face as she inched back. "Especially for Ino-chan! Oooohhhhh boy...what are we going to do?!"

"Calm down dobe, remeber what I said about finding solid prof?" Sasuke said, expression annoyed yet his was voice clam and steady.

"B-but-but, how?!" The blonde shrieked and slumped to the ground, eventually to tired from walking back and forth non-stop.

Sasuke stayed silent as he scrunched his eyebrows and silently pondered on the matter as Sakura let out an impaitient sigh. "Mind telling me why you two idiots dragged me all the way up here? I'm starving, you could have at least let me eat first."

"I don't think that's a good idea Sakura-chan..." Naruto mumbled.

"Yeah, considering how much you've eaten these pass few day..." Sasuke continued, both not looking her in the eye.

"And what are you implying?!" The pinkette fumed with puffed cheeks.

"Nothing!" The two teens simultaneously said, one louder than the other.

* * *

"So you guys are still suspicious about Sai?" She questioned, then nodding in understanding, which was odd. "I mean, he does seem suspicious, what with his behaviour and all... but as Sasuke said, we can't confirm anything unless we find prof."

Sasuke nodded and watched as Naruto's shoulders slumped in relieveness.

"Whew, and I thought you would disagree with us or something," the blonde exclaimed.

"Honestly, I would have disagreed if it weren't for that chill I got when he 'smiled' at me..." she said with furrowed eyebrows and bit her thumb nail, thinking probably.

"Sakura," her head snapped in his direction instantly as she stared at him with those big emerald eyes. His gaze landed on her lips as he swallowed, forcing himself to look at her in the eyes instead. "I think you should warn Yamanaka, or at least tell her to keep an eye on Sai."

She frowned. "I dunno... Ino seems pretty into him."

"Eh... I don't see what she sees in him though," Naruto commented with a disgusted look.

"Maybe because you're a guy and she's a girl," Sakura stated matter of factly.

"Is he even hot in your eyes Sakura-chan?"

"Pft..." she waved her hand dismissively. "I've seen better."

"Oh? Who?" Sasuke inquired, deciding to join in the conversation.

She sputtered and averted her gaze. "Oh...you know..."

"No, I don't know," he said in a teasing tone and smirked at her glare for putting her on the spot.

"You two are digusting," Naruto voiced and exaggerated his shiver of disgust. Both teens in turn turned to glare at him, making him whimper out an apology and sheepishly grinned at them. "Sorry, but seriously, I'm going to follow that Sai bastard around until I find something. So, who's with me?"

"Not me," both teens replied without missing a beat.

"Eh?! But I can't do it alone! Sasuke-teme? You promised to help."

"I _did, _but I only promised you yesterday. I'm not helping you again, you can't convince me otherwise."

* * *

To be fair, it wasn't Naruto who convinced him, it was that sly witch with her freakish pink hair, mesmorizing emerald eyes, a smile that would make you kill and to top it all off, her irresistible pout she showed when he chose to disagree (god dammit Sakura...). All in all Sasuke was not happy, not in the slightest. He was especially unhappy with his hiding spot in the bushes. The leaves were everywhere and he thanked Sunanoo he wasn't a girl and that he wasn't in a skirt. This better be worth the trouble, or that blonde knuckle head was going to get a serious beat down.

He watched as Sai sat under a shady tree and took out a sketch book. So that creep likes art huh? Now if only Sasuke could catch him with some ink and a brush, he could be one step closer to finding the perpatrator.

"I take it that Dickless and Ugly are not with you, Uchiha-san?"

The raven head rolled his eyes, so he has been caught. He then smirked, that means Sai could sense near by Magic Users, that also means _he _can use magic himself. The fool had given himself away. But wait, 'dickless' and 'ugly'?

"If you're wondering, then yes. I am the cause of the rats," he said and turned to face Sasuke with a smile.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. So he meant to give himself away...but why? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he was up to something, heck even Naruto could figure this out. The only problem was finding out what that something is.

The Uchiha scoffed. "I wasn't 'wondering', I was suspecting."

Sai rose an eyebrow as his smile flattered. "You don't have to be such a downer Pretty boy, I know very well what you want from me."

Pretty boy? "Hn, Root is up to something aren't they."

The pale teen shrugged. "You could say that," he said and continued on his drawing. "So, where's Dickless and Ugly?"

It was Sasuke's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Uzumaki-san and Sakura-san," he answered the silent question.

Since when does this guy get off with calling Sakura by her first name when he called Naruto 'Uzumaki-san' instead? He pocketed his fisted hand and walked towards the silent artist. "They're looking for you, apparently..."

"Shouldn't you phone them then?"

"Hn," he grunted and smirked. "Nice drawing," he said before leaving the pale teen to stare at his retreating back.

The wind picked up, making the pages of his sketch book fly wildly, the only thing keeping them in place was the binding the book provided. Sai didn't care though, he just stared at his half finished drawing of a small cottage with trees and flowers surrounding it. He had drewn it unconsciously... He then took the end of the paper and ripped the whole piece off in one go.

* * *

"If you're wondering, then yes. I am the cause of the rats," the phone's recorder resounded throughout the empty room. Naruto gaped at the reven head as a slow clap erupted from Kakashi, Sakura looked astonished from her place on top of the desk as she swung her legs in a repeated pattern. The evening sunrays shining on Sasuke's smug face as he shut down his phone and pocketed it.

"What's wrong dobe? Cat got your tongue?" Sasuke taunted.

"Literally," Kakashi pipped as Naruto glared at both of them.

"Teme, how'd you even get him to confess his crimes?" Naruto grumbled with crossed arms and a pout.

"See, now there's problem. I didn't get him to confess, he did it himself," Sasuke said as his smug face fell.

"Meaning his planing something?" Sakura questioned with a head tilt.

"Exactly."

"Simple then, we'll just have to be on gaurd," Kakashi said, then taking out that stupid porn book of his. "Now who's hungry? My treat."

Naruto cheered a cry of joy as he fist-pumped into the air. "No taking it back now Kakashi-sensei! Let's eat ramen, I vote Ichiraku's!"

Kakashi sighed. "No more than three bowls Naruto," he said and followed after the bounching whiskered blonde, leaving Sasuke and Sakura to catch up.

"Sai, huh..." she said as she fell in place beside him.

"Yeah..." he replied as he kept looking forward.

"I hope he doesn't do anything that will hurt Ino..."

She received no reply as the two walked after their hyperactive friend and occupaid teacher, silence haging in between them as Sakura played with the strap of her bag.

* * *

"I'm not satisfied with whatever your little 'minion' is up to."

"Of course... But Sai is one of the best in Root, one of the few who upholds the fatest time in killing off their partner."

"He's unpredictable, and being unpredictable can worsen the situation. I don't like being unable to read him... Have you at least let one of your trusted 'minions' keep an eye on him? Because I know you don't so much as trust him yourself."

"I know what you mean, and yes, I have already dispatched someone capable. On another note, I have also found someone who can cast the resurrection spell, and that someone is willing to help too."

"And what is the name of this 'someone'?"

"Oh, I think you will be quite impressed, Madara-sama" Danzo smirked, homicidal dancing in his eyes.

* * *

He splashed light red on to the empty canvas, then red itself, followed by dark red and reddish-orange. Red, the colour of anger, malice and vigor, at the same time it represents love, strength and determination. He stared at the red colour filled canvas and frowned, then picking up dark orange and spraying it on too. Dark orange represents deceit and distrust, did the colour not suit him well?

He took the canvas off the stand and placed it leaning against the wall to let it dry before he continued adding more details. His paintings seem to have a lot more red as of late, perhaps he was feeling fustrated, or maybe angered. But of what? He doesn't actually know, he doesn't want to find out either, cause if he does, his anger will never disintegrate. But he already has a good grasp of the cause of his anger, and it was directed at that one particular person.

* * *

"I WIN! Take that four-eyes!" Suigetsu yelled and pumped his fist into the air. Karin only rolled her eyes and tossed the cards in his direction. "Aw, don't be such a sore loser Karin, not everyone can be as perfect as me."

"As if I'd want to become like you," she said with a sneer and snorted.

"Can't both of you just shut up? Be more like Juugo would ya?" Grumbled Sasuke as he got back to reading.

Said teens glared at each other before turning away with a stubborn "Hmph!"

Juugo sighed as he continued cleaning up the scattered cards of Karin and Suigetsu's previous game.

"Hey, Sasuke," Suigetsu called. "Didja' finally get to bang Cherry Blossom-chan or somethin'? Cause that last remark wasn't as aggressive as it was suppose to be."

"I don't see how 'banging' someone and aggressiveness have anything to do with each other," Sasuke said with a frown, eyes still on his book.

"Well if you don't have aggression during sex, then where's the fun in that?" He stated. In a split second, he found himself having to regenerate his liquified body. He glred at Karin once he was done regenerating.

"Oops, my hand slipped," she said while smirking in his direction.

"Don't be such a bitch, you're just jealous that who he bangged wasn't you, but Sakura-chan instead. So did you bang her Sasuke?"

"Drop it Suigetsu," the raven head warned.

"Aw c'mon, you can tell your ol' pal."

"I said drop it Suigetsu," he growled out this time.

"Alright fine," he said in a surrendering pose. "I'll ask you some other time."

Sasuke groaned and glared them. "Why are you in my house anyway? What fucking business do you have with me?"

The three just stared at him, Suigetsu then shrugging and saying that they were bored, which issued a frustrated groan and an eye roll from Sasuke.

"Oh yeah, where's that sweet ass hiding anyway?" Suigetsu questioned as he glanced around to look for Sakura.

"She's sleeping, fell asleep while studying," Sasuke grumbled.

"Oh yeah? Whose room is she sleeping in?" he asked from his position near the stairs.

"That is non of your -" Sasuke stopped as his eyes widened in realization. "Don't you even fucking dare Suigetsu! Stay away from my room!" He yelled as he chased after the laughing teen who was running up the stairs like a mad man, a conflicted Karin and a confused Juugo behind, the deck of cards and Sasuke's book left forgotten in the living room.

* * *

Her uniform skirt falling just above her thighs, creamy legs wholly showing as her white button up shirt hung off her left shoulder, her right leg proped up in an unlady like fashion as one of her hands rested on top of her chest. That was the position they found the ever beautiful Haruno Sakura in, on Sasuke's bed, _in _Sasuke's room. Sasuke swallowed hard. Honestly, the sight was enough to give his little friend a reaction.

"Damn you lucky bastard," Suigetsu muttered, shamelessly eyeing Sakura's long legs with desire. "What I would give to-"

"We're leaving," Juugo announced and grabed Suigetsu by the collar. "Sorry to disturb you Sasuke," he said with an apologetic smile.

"Don't forget Karin, I think she's turned to stone," Suigetsu gasped through Juugo's tight hold of his collar.

"Right," he said and dragged Karin along too, leaving Sasuke alone with a defenceless Sakura.

"Fuck, I think I need a cold shower..."

* * *

"I bet ten bucks that he's already fucking the life out of her," Suigetsu said, earning a dissapointed sigh from Juugo and the finger from Karin.

"Don't be a retard you prick, Sasuke would never do something like that," Karin grumbled.

"I dunno' Karin, there was this movement in his lower region-" he was cut of by a his head having to regenerate the second time tonight.

Juugo sighed once again. Some people never learn.

* * *

"Ino, do you think I have a chance with Sakura-san?"

Ino's books all dropped to the ground, she could practically hear her heart shattering into millions of pieces. "Eh?"

"Sorry, was that too sudden? Here, let me help," he said as he started to help her with the books.

"Have a chance with her? You mean..."

He scratched his cheek in embarrassment, giving her a sheepish smile. "Yeah... And I thought that you, as her best friend, would be able to give some advice."

"O-of course," she said and forced a smile. "What do you want to know?"

* * *

Sakura blinked, then blushed. "Really?! Sorry, I didn't realize I fell asleep," she mumbled and scratched the back of her head in a sheepish manner.

"Hn," he grunted, eyes trailing down to her short (it was seriously too short) uniform skirt.

"Sasuke?" His gaze shot up to meet her's.

"What?"

"Nevermind," she mumbled with a blush.

He wished she would stop being so adorable, shouldn't it be illegal to be this adorable? It should. It really should. "What do you want? I won't bite, so spill."

"You won't bite my ass," he heard her mumble as she touched her collar bone, earning smirk from Sasuke.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! I-it's nothing," she said as the wind picked, making her pink hair fly all over her face.

"Hn," his smirk widened, watching in amusement as Sakura tried to tame her pink tresses.

The two were on the school roof, sitting on one of the many benches provided, a few other students were also present but were out of ear shot. Lunch hour on the roof was relaxing, the wind at this time was the most cooling and it won't be as strong as the evening winds. The roof was also quite a good place to hide while skipping classes Sasuke noted, teachers don't often come up the roof, not as often as students anyway.

"By the way, have you seen Naruto?" Sakuta questioned once her hair was out of her face.

"No. Why?" Was his simply reply.

"Nevermind, I was just curious," she said while twirling a strand of hair on her finger.

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Stop suggesting something and then brushing it off when asked, it's..." he paused and glanced at her.

"Annoying?" She said and smiled.

"Exactly."

"I knew I'd find you two flirting up here," a voice from behind them stated. Both teens faced the owner of the voice to find an annoyed Temari and an amused yet slightly awkward Gaara.

"Temari? Wha- we are not flirting!" She fumed with a slight blush.

"You could've fooled me," she said with a roll to her eyes. She then decided to squeeze next to the pinkette, effectively making her close up what little distance she and Sasuke had shared. Sakura then glanced at the quite redhead who seemed to have taken an interest in the endless blue sky as he gazed up, dazed. She smiled a little, Gaara can be such dork.

"Why are you here," Sasuke demanded with a glare, obviously annoyed that their peace got interupted.

"Why? Hey Gaara, why _am _I here?" She questioned her bewildered brother, who in turn just shrugged at her question. "I'm here because of this weird rumour going about! Pay attention! Sheesh Gaara."

Gaara openly glared at her, then deciding that it was best not to argue with his sister and just quitely sulk.

"Rumour?" Sakura echoed in confusion.

"Yes, rumour. A currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth," she deadpanned.

"I know what it means," she bit out in annoyance. "I mean what kind of rumour, and who is it about?" She clearified.

"It's about someone liking you," she said and paused, watching the way Sasuke's eye twitched in irritation. She smirked. "That someone is Sai actually, can you belive it?"

"What?!" She shrieked in her friend's face.

Temari scrunched up her nose and said, "I know, I mean, who would like _you_?!" Then glancing at Sasuke and saying, "no offence dude."

"Temari!" Her pink haired friend shrieked once more. "Where did you hear that from?!"

"Uh... Ino, the gossip queen herself," she answered, then furrowing her brows. "She did look a little upset though."

Sakura cursed. "THAT DAMN BASTARD IS GONNA' GET WHAT'S COMING TO HIM!" She fumed and stomped her way to the exit, leaving an amuse Sasuke and two confused siblings. Sasuke then excused himself and followed Sakura out the exit.

"What just happened?" Temari inquired with a frown.

"Were you not paying attention? I think Sakura-san is going to pummel the life out of Sai...-san."

"Well said brother. Now let's go look for Kankuro, I bet his making out with his puppets."

* * *

"Sakura," she heard Sasuke call out, she ignored him and continued decending down the stairs with a frown glued to her face. Honestly, Ino shouldn't make herself such an easy target. Sakura really worries for her friend sometimes, she knows she can take care of herself, and yet when it either comes to romance and/or boys and such she can really lower her gaurd down, and not in a good way.

"Sakura stop," he said and held her by her forearm, effectively making her stop in her tracks. "You're being too hasty. How do we even know that the rumour is even true anyway?"

"That rumour came from Ino, Sasuke," she stated, trying to discreetly pry her arm away from him.

He sighed and used his free hand to comb his hair back. "It could be a trap you know."

"I'll beat the living daylights out of him before he can even initiate his trap," she mumbled, not hiding that she was trying to escape from him anymore as she tugged on her arm as hard as she could, but seriously, without magic she was as harmless as a newborn fawn to him.

"You're being irrational."

"Shut up duck-butt, stop babying me."

"And we're back to duck-butt..." he grumbled and sent her a glare, she simply glared back. "I'm not babying you _pinky, _it was just common sense. If you don't understand then let me spell it out for you. IT'S. A. TRAP."

"Alright fine!" She gave in with a frustrated sigh. "Then what have you got in mind, Sasuke?"

"Simple, patience."

* * *

She in all honesty had no idea how she got herself into this situation. Here she sat, in the art room, in art class with Ino in between Sai and herself. Why was she in the same group as Ino and Sai again? Oh yeah, Kurenai-sensei had said to pair up with last week's group members, and Ino and Sai were her group members...sigh... This was so awkward.

She glanced around to find Sasuke, since he was absent last week she was quite curious to see who his group members were. Shino and Hinata sat quietly beside him, focused on their work. She looked back to Sasuke, just in time to catch his gaze.

She mouthed, "help," and discreetly pointed to both her group members.

Sasuke simply raised and eyebrow and mouthed back, "deal with it," then receiving the finger from Sakura as she turned back to her work. Kurenai had asked them to do the classic 'draw a bowl of fruits' and for some odd reason, Sakura just couldn't get the banana right. She sighed and glanced to Ino, who was surprising quiet.

"I can't get the banana right," she said as Ino glanced at the pinkette's drawing.

"I know, I can't get mine to look natural either," she sighed and blew a stray hair out of her face. "Meh, we already get marks for just drawing it don't we?"

"Hmm...good point. Oh well..." she exclaimed and set her art block down. "What's the point in this 'group activity' thing when the activity we're doing now doesn't even involve working together?"

"Who knows, maybe the school is changing its system? I dunno," she said with a shrug, not looking at her in the eyes. "But as long as it helps in exams then I'm not complaining."

Sakura stared at her, she stared at her long and hard. Something was obviously wrong.

"Ino, we need to talk, after school," she said, not waiting for a response as she resumed doing her work.

Stupid banana...

* * *

Persuing Sasuke to leave her and Ino alone took some time, but he finally gave in when Naruto and Kakashi came to her aid. He was reluctant, but let her off after she gave him a reasuring pat on the shoulder and teasing smile. She then dragged Ino off to the cake shop they went with Tenten, Temari and Hinata the last time. The blonde had argued about how much weight she was going to gain if they went there, but Sakura just ignored her and entered the shop like she owned the place.

Their order was placed and Sakura followed Ino to a table near the window. Once seated Ino started her interogation on the pinkette.

"So why am I here, Sakura?" She questioned with narrowed eyes.

"Uh...to eat cake?"

"Sakura..."

She sighed and looked Ino in the eyes. "Just now during lunch break, Temari mentioned a...rumour..."

Ino bit her lip and frowned. "Yeah..."

"Is it true?"

"He told me himself..." she said. " Also, he didn't say anything about not telling anyone..." she quickly mumbled and looked away guiltily.

The hot afternoon sun was still blaring down on them, pedestrians were clearing the roads into near by shops or cafés as we speak. Sakura watched as child cried over his melted ice cream as his mother tried ushering him indoors, she could tell that the heat was already catching up to the woman as her patience was already wearing thin. The shrill screeching noises of the cicadas played in the background as an indication that Summer was not ending so soon.

Lucky for both of them that the indoor seatings in the shop were still available, the heat looked unbearable.

The pause had left Ino to stare at her friend expectantly. Sakura slowly let out a sigh and drumed her fingers against the table. Should she tell her? How would she react? Will she defend him or go against him? A thought slowly crossed her mind. How much does Ino actually like Sai?

She observed her blonde friend carefully. She could tell that her hands were clenched tightly underneath the table. It hurt to see her Ino this way, she pursed her lips.

"Ino, there's something you should know..."

* * *

"It would seem that she has found out..." he muttered to no one in particular, brush hovering above the empty canvas. He sighed, he was definitely going to receive an earful from Danzo after this.

He stared at the empty canvas, not really knowing what to paint. He placed his brush down and decided that it was best not force any ideas out. After all, forcing art can lead to terrible art, and that was a definite no no. He then headed towards the kitchen, deciding that it was time for dinner, he paused when he noticed a framed picture on the floor. He picked it up and stared at the picture of him and Shin, the picture caught Shin with a huge grin plastered on his face as he ruffled Sai's hair, while Sai was caught in the middle of laughing. He blinked and set the picture faced down on the counter top.

Unfortunately those times were over... Shin was gone.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**A/N: Sorry... I had author's block and exams... So this was put off until now. Again, I'm sorry.**

**-Y**


	14. Chapter 13:On the palm of your hand

Chapter 13: On the palm of your hand

Sakura frowned, there was something in her desk that didn't belong to her. A crumpled ball of paper laid near one of her note books, she wondered if someone was that dumb enough to dump their trash in her seat. She rolled her eyes and dug it out of her desk, wondering what the person did to it that made him or her want to dispose of a perfectly good piece of paper.

Her breath stopped as she paused smoothing out the paper. What stared back at her was the image of her deceased mother, face smiling. Her pulse quickened as she smoothed out the rest of the paper. Who?! Why?! She gasped and covered her mouth. There on the paper was an exact copy of her family photo, her younger-self smiling shyly at the camera as her father's hand rested on her shoulders, plastered on his face was that goofy grin of his as her mother stood beside him with a kind smile.

Her fingers ran across the paper, the sensation of the pencil lead on paper feeling very familiar to her. It was drawn on...

Her breathing pattern wavered, slowly feeling panicked as her breathing picked up, she clutched the area near her chest to try calming her rapid breathing. She stared at the picture, vision going from clear to blurry and from blurry to clear over and over again.

"Sakura?" A distant voice called out to her, the feint sound of the noisy class slowly dying down.

"Sakura?!" The distant voice called out again, she felt strong arms catch her just as she lost her footing.

Her head spun in circles as she focused her gaze on a worried Sasuke giving orders for someone to call help. Her hazy gaze drifted to the classroom's front door, spotting a smirking Sai as he sent her a smile and a small wave.

_'You...' _She thought as everything went black.

* * *

"...Uchiha-san, I _asure _you that it's only a mild shock," the school nurse said for the uptenth time, right eye twitching with annoyance at the teen's concern over what she asumed was his girlfriend. Even her husband wasn't so fussy over her when she was pregnant! She mentally groaned in agony as she watched the raven head comb a stray hair away from the sleeping pinkette's face.

With set determination to please her husband with the best sex he would ever have tonight, she sat down and started furiously finishing her paperwork.

* * *

They were finally alone, Sasuke thought as he stared at the life-like drawing of Sakura and her parents. His fingers traced the outline of the child version of Sakura, stopping when he heard a sneeze coming from said pinkette.

His eyes drifted towards her sleeping features, her peaceful expression nearly putting him at ease. But of course he couldn't stay so relaxed, he had a duty to fulfil, and that was to find out who did this to her, and he was pretty sure that he has a good idea who.

The sound of the ceiling fan creaked throughout the infirmary, Sakura's steady breathing following in rhythm as he stood up to stretch. After hearing the satisfying 'pop' of his muscles he sat back down and checked his phone. It was a few minuetes before recess, he sighed and stared at her once again. Sure, this is what happens first thing in the morning, does she have to give him mild heart attacks here and there?

He figured that she would be hungry once she was awake, so he stood up, placed the drawing on to the bedside table and left the room, heading straight to the cafeteria to buy Sakura and himself some food.

* * *

Sakura opened her eyes once the door to the infirmary clicked shut, staring at the rotating ceiling fan as it produced sqeaking noises. She groaned and used her arm to shield her eyes. '_What happened?' _she thought and briefly paused. Oh, _that _happened. Her head turned to face the bedside table, the drawing innocently laying there as the wind from the ceiling fan caused it to move once in awhile.

"I thought he'd never leave."

She shot up from the bed, earning a chuckle from the newcomer. Her hands fisted the bed sheets, clenching so tightly she didn't think it was good for her blood flow. She glared at the pale teen from across the room. There he stood in all his glory, leaning against the window sill with an amused smirk (Sasuke had a sexier smirk, no competition there) as he gave a salute.

"...what do you want?" She tried her hardest to keep her anger from spilling into that sentence, sending her glare to the bed sheets instead, she was afraid that if she even spared him a glance she would strangle the life out of him.

"No need for the sour look Sakura," he said with a shake to his head. "So, what do you think of the drawing I gave you?"

So that's how he's playing it.

She forced a convincing smile, and given the shocked look she received from him it was convincing enough. "It was beautiful," she said.

His face darkened. "You have a talent for faking don't you?"

"Charmed by your compliment," she replyed, smile morthing into a dark glare. "Now tell me, what do you want?"

He faced away from her. "Honestly, I just want to be freed from my little cage."

Sakura flattered and srutinized the dark haired teen, was he trying to get her pity? Then she noticed his clenched fist and her frown deepened.

"Don't worry about pitying me, I don't need it," he said as he gazed out the window. She felt her left eye twitch in irritation, this guy...

"Did you know that I've been tasked to kidnap you just recently?" He said, fully facing her this time. She stilled, the look he sent her killed her. She could tell that he really didn't want to carry out this task.

"Why don't you run then?" She whispered, looking away from him as she pursed her lips. What else was she to say? She didn't want to hurt his feelings and she definitely didn't want to offend him either. But then again he did some horrible things to her friends, so how was she to comment on this?

A dark chuckle interupted her thoughts as she glanced in his direction. "I would have already done that long ago if it were possible."

"Then I'm sorry to say that I'm incapable of helping you," she said and paused. "And I look forward to your attempts in kidnapping me."

A sad smile crawled its way to his face, and Sakura didn't know wheather to belive in it or not. "Do not be mistaken, I didn't come here to seek your pity nor your help. I just came to...chat," he said and headed towards the door. "Now, I must take my leave as your guard dog has returned," he finished just as the bell signaling recess rang.

He opened the door to find Sasuke leaning against the wall beside it, said raven head then raising an eyebrow in his direction and passing him to enter the infirmary. Mumbling a 'I hate dogs' and closing the door behind him.

Sakura giggled at his comment. "Don't be such a sour puss Sasuke, dogs are wonderful creatures."

"No they're not, they're messy and like to poop everywhere," he grumbled and walked towards her. Sakura move to the side for him to sit on the bed with her. He held up a plastic bag containing some bread, strawberry milk and regular milk. She gave him a greatful smile and picked out a melon bun. Sasuke smirked and placed the remaining things on to the forgotten chair beside the bed, opting to drink the milk first.

"So, when did you start hearing the conversation?" She questioned after taking her first bite of the bread.

"The part where he said he was 'tasked' to kidnap you."

"Great, so you know about my current predicament," she hummed.

"You had to provoke him," he sighed and flicked her forehead, causing an 'ow' from her. She then stuffed her bun into his mouth, he blinked and narrowed his eyes at her. She simply grinned.

"Listen well young one, Sai obviously has a rough past (Sasuke rolled his eyes) and wheather or not you choose to belive him is up to you. But in my case, I really think he isn't lying about it-" Sasuke cut her off with an 'omph' and glared at her. "Yeah, yeah it's a trap blah, blah. But c'mon, I'm curious about his past, why do such bad things when he can create such beautiful things? Also, if I get 'kidnap' we can finally see who's behind this whole mess! You guys can send some rescue party after me or somethin' and we can get the guy, beat him up and interrogate him. So, what do you think?"

He pushed her arm away. "I think it's stupid! We're not risking it Sakura."

She pouted. "Then what have you got in mind genius?"

"Something less...straight forward..."

"Oh? Pry tell Sasuke," she said and leaned forward.

"Kidnap him and let Yamanaka look into his mind," he swiftly said and took a sip out of his carton of milk. "And before you say anything, I've already thought of the outcomes and risks it would create, but this seems the most logical and fastest. It's up to you wheather or not you want to go with it.

"Wow...this is the first I've heard you speak so much... And as for my comment on your plan, wow...just wow..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and mumbled 'annoying' as he reached for the left over bread.

"Seriously though Sasuke, I think your plan is _way _more straight forward."

"Because I'm simply a straight forward guy," he said and popped the bread's packeting open.

"I don't know wheather to hate that part of you or love it..."

"Hn," he said with a smirk and took a bite out of the bread. Ugh, it was red bean flavoured.

* * *

Sakura grumbled as she stared out the window of Tsunade's office. "Stupid nurse and her '_I think it's best if you take the rest of the day off_' speech."

The pinkette sat by the window sill, glancing up at the ceiling high windows bofore turning to look around the room. Books were placed neatly on the many shelves that surrounded the octagon shapped office, four sides of the walls were white framed windows while one side was where the door sat, leaving the other three walls available for the large book shelves. Near her was the white mahogany desk that sat the blonde sage.

She narrowed her eyes at her Shishou who was mumbling curses as she read through several documents. She was surprised when the school nurse had told them she had already contacted Sakura's supposed 'guardian' and was nearly given a heart attack when said 'guardian' turned up. Althought Sakura was fairly amused at the nurse's reaction towards Tsunade and her overwhelming presence (*cough* herhugeassboobs *cough**cough*), she was also mildly pissed that she was asked to leave early. I mean what about the 'mission'?! Wasn't she suppose to be there to overlook it too?!

She paused her thoughts. No, it wasn't right for her be thinking these thoughts, she wasn't thinking of how Ino would feel if they asked her to do such a thing. Surely she would feel conflicted, right? Ino did have a crush on that guy...

Although Sakura had never asked her, she never asked what was so special about the pale teen, why did she sold her heart to such a heartless guy? She had pondered on it all night and to no avail were the answers found. She counld only remember Ino's shocked yet hurt expression, at first the pinkette thought that she would deny it, she even thought of several come backs to counter the blonde's defend over Sai, but she was proven wrong when Ino displayed a heatbroken yet crestfallen expression.

_"So it was all just a lie? He was making a fool out of me all this time... You're not joking right?! ...holy Hagoromo I'm an idiot..." _she had whispered to herself before bidding the pinkette Good Bye and leaving the shop without paying for her order nor eating it. Sakura would've comforted her but...she was useless at that... She was so caught up in her own mess that she had failed to see the pain her friend was carrying, not only Ino though, all her other friends too...

Sakura had seen the blonde during recess, she had seen through her act of 'I'm fine' and was curious to ask, but apparently Sasuke decided to tell her about the 'plan'. The plan was ok, problem was that it involed both Ino and Sai, which is currently bad. Bad because of what happened yesterday. She didn't quite catch Ino's answer but she was still concerned none the less. She won't say 'yes' she was certain of that, but still...

She purssed her lips and glanced at Tsunade. "Shishou, why _did _you come to get me at school? I mean you've got a ton of paperwork to finish..."

Tsunade sighed and looked up from her work. "I would've asked Shizune to do it but, she had urgent business to attend to. Also, who better to keep the Uchiha in check than myself?" She said with a proud smirk.

Sakura giggled and shook her head at her mentor's behaviour, she may be old but she's still young at heart. She smiled and turned her attention back to her thoughts as Tsunade returned to her paperwork. Her Shishou _can _be selfless sometimes, allowing Shizune-nee off and coming to get her herself, even with the load of paperwork to finish.

"Shishou," Tsunade glanced up from her work once again, "where's the bathroom?"

"Down the hall, take two lefts and you're there."

Sakura thanked her and skipped over to the door, shutting it lightly and turning to check if anyone was in sight. No one in sight, she smiled and darted down the opposite hall way, determind to search for her best friend. She checked her watch, only an hour or so left to go before the school let them off, she could take her time getting there, maybe a little détour too. It's been awhile since she visited her parents graves.

* * *

The tapping...the tapping noises won't stop. Kakashi took a deep breath and sighed, looking up from his book to spot an agitated Sasuke tapping a foot on the ground, arms crossed with a scowl decorating his features. He guessed the raven head was just restless, I mean with Sakura not around it practically made him a worrying mother duck. But seriously though, the tapping was annoying, even more than half the class was already looking his way, annoyed.

Someone cleared their throat, causing the raven head to glare at said person. He yelped and quickly turned away, a few snickers coming from here and there as Shikamaru's loud yawn overpowered them. The silver head returned to his book, ignoring the noises that came and go. Wasn't this suppose to be self-study period? He ain't seeing nobody doing self studying...

A few more seconds into feet- no _Sasuke's _foot tappping and there was a loud 'Bang'. Kakashi lifted a bored gaze from his book once more to find Temari fiercely glaring at Sasuke, her right hand placed flat on the table, indicating that it was her that slamed the table while her other hand rested on her hip. The tapping stopped and Kakashi found Sasuke giving Temari one of his infamous death glares.

The two continued with the glaring match, neither moving an inch. That was before Sasuke clicked his tongue and turned to his work, leaving Temari victorious as she sat back down with a proud smirk.

Kakashi blinked.

Well, at least the tapping was gone.

* * *

Ino twirled her pencil with her fingers, staring at her half answered homework sheet with a dull gaze. Her brows furrowed and she threw her pencil down, deciding to copy from someone else later on as her gaze drifted to Sakura's empty seat . She pursed her lips, yesterday still didn't sit well with her, she didn't know who to be mad at. The news Sakura gave her confussed her, it confussed her that she belived it immediatly.

Maybe she already suspected him, but she was blinded by how charming he was towards her, men were always her weakness...

Her gaze then landed on Sasuke, who seemed to have finished his work sheet already as he was fast asleep on the table. He mind flashed back to recess, before Tsunade made her surprise appearance.

* * *

_Ino made her way to the infirmary, worried yet nervous, worried that Sakura has yet to wake up and nervous because_ if _she__ was awake, how would she react to Ino's escape yesterday? Well, no time to worry now as she was already approaching the infirmary. Just as she reached for the door it suddenly opened to reveal an annoyed Naruto._

_"...I'm telling you that I don't like the plan Teme! I don't care how fast it is, it's just-just cruel!" He shouted and turned around to meet a stunned Ino. His annoyance softened as he sent her a grin before giving Sasuke one last glare and walking off._

_"I told you you went too far, " she heard Sakura's voice from inside. "I agree that the plan is simple and fast, but you could at least consider the feelings of the people involed in it," she said at her place on the bed while swinging her legs in a rhythmatic pattern._

_Sasuke grunted his usual "Hn." He was standing and glaring at the ground with his arms crossed._

_Ino took this opportunity to get their attention by saying, "what plan?" Which issued the two teens to still._

_"Ino?" Sakura asked and gave a relived sigh. "I thought you weren't coming today..."_

_Ino blushed, not really sure why she got embarrassed. "Yeah...sorry about yesterday..." she said and meant it. She was confussed, really confused. She even tried her best to avoid bumping into Sai. She didn't know what would happen if she did._

_"It's fine," she said while waving her hand lazily._

_"Anyway, what were you guys talking about?"_

_"Oh, it's nothin-" Sakura started but got cut off by Sasuke, the pinkette glared at him._

_"We need you to do something."_

_Ino rose an eyebrow. "And that is?"_

_"We need you to-" he shut up after Sakura stepped on his foot. "Seriously?! Let me talk!"_

_"You didn't let me talk either!" She fumed._

_Ino stared at the two, feeling very much like a third-wheel. She purssed her lips, this was some what akward for her... "Um, guys? Stop flirting, it's...making me uncomfortable..."_

_Both teens paused, Sakura then facing the other direction and pouted while Sasuke gave a fustrated sigh and combed his hair back with his hand. "Why does everyone say that we're flirting? We're not flirting! It's called an argument!" Sakura said with an angry stomp._

_"Am I missing something here? Are you guys dating already?!" Ino inquired, shocked. _

_"N-no!" Sakura defended with a dark blush as Sasuke blinked confussed._

_"Ok nevermind, back to more important matters, Sasuke?"_

_"Hn, we need you to look into Sai's mind," he said._

_"Eh?"_

_"You don't have to if you don't want to," Sakura quickly added._

_Ino opened her mouth to answer, but was shortly cut off by the school nurse when she entered. The three teens turned silent as they watched the nurse go through a few records before looking up to Sakura and telling her to take the rest of the day off to rest. Sakura had objected and said she was perfectly fine and was silenced when the nurse said she had already contacted her guardian, which confussed the three._

_That was when Tsunade made her appearance, Sakura snickering when the nurse's eyes went big when she laid eyes on Tsunade. Sasuke had tried helping Sakura to explain that she was fine, but was silenced by Tsunade when she questioned who was the doctor in the room. The busty blonde then made a whole show of not accepting him into her 'daughter's' life just to amuse herself with the already flabbergastered school nurse. She then left with Sakura in tow, leaving Ino to stupidly gape at the door._

* * *

She shook her head, Tsunade was so unpredictable sometimes.

But then if she wasn't interupted, what would her answer be? No? Was that it? Truth be told she was still confussed. Though if she was still going to play the 'let's avoid Sai' game then it's definitely a 'no'.

With that in mind, she got Hinata to lend her her worksheet and finished off the rest of the remaining questions.

* * *

"Ino-chan, you're close to Sai aren't you? Could you give this book back to him. He dropped it. Thanks!" Ayumi, a friend of her's from Naruro's class said ans disappeared down the hall way with a small group of friends.

Ino gaped at her friend's retreating back. With 'what just happened...?' echoing in her mind. She stared at the slightly tattered book in her hands, a picture of a boy with white hair was presented on the cover of the book. Ino tilted her head and turned to the front cover of the book, startled by the little pale skinned boy with jet black hair on the cover that she realized that this book must be connected to Sai's mysterious past.

Should she? Would it be considered snooping? What if it contains something she doesn't want to know? She took a deep breath to clam her self down. She will open it. It won't be considered snooping since the information she found would be useful. It won't have anything in it that she would have to worry about. This book could very well contain information behind that untrustworthy expressionless mask of his, who he works for and why.

With another deep breath, she opened the book.

* * *

Sakura stared at the man that was standing in front of her parents graves, all her senses telling her to run. But she couldn't, why? Her foot was planted to the concrete ground, unable to move, she wasn't scared though, she wasn't even wavering. It's odd. It's weird. It's strange. She doen't even know who this man is. She stared at his strange mask, it possessed an ugly colour of orange, the mask swirling to a hole for an eye to peek out.

What a strange mask it is.

Her feet moved on it's own, and before she knew it she was standing right in front of him.

"Hello," the masked man greeted.

She didn't think aggression would serve her well now, so she opt to glare instead.

"What a fierce look you have there," the man said with a laugh. Sakura didn't even know what was so funny.

"Excuse me sir, but I think you're at the wrong graves. These are my parent's graves," she said.

"Oh, I thought these were Haruno Kizashi and Haruno Mebuki's graves. You see, they were seniors of mine, so I came to pay them a visit, then I found out that they've passed away. So I came to visit their graves out of respect," he explained. "Are these the Haruno's graves?"

Confussion immeadiatly took over her. Who was this man? Oh how badly she wished to snatch that mask off his face. She carefully studied the man, so far he hasn't shown any signs of attacking, which was good. So that left the question of the day: what does this man want?

"Yes...these are the Haruno's graves..." she carefully said.

"And you said they were your parents? You must be their daughter then, Haruno Sakura was it?" He questioned with a satisfied clap.

"Yeah... What's it to ya...?" She said, getting into a fighting pose.

"Wonderful! I need your help with something," he continued with such glee that her stomach clenched with worry. She rose an eyebrow for him to continue. "Well, first I need you to go to sleep."

She then noticed the Sharingan swirling for its activation on his right eye. And for the second time that day, she saw darkness again.

* * *

Sai had honestly no idea how he got himself into this mess. First thing he knew was that he was merrily on his way home when two emotionless fuming teens (namely Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Neji) showed up and knocked him out cold, all the while still arguing. The scond thing he knew was that he was faced with a blonde idiot (dickless) crying into a redhead's shirt with horrible bags under his eyes (Sai does not know who this person is), all the while mumbling that poor stupid bastard, was Naruto referring to him? The third thing he knew was that he was faced with his book...no, Shin's book...it was meant for him anyway.

"Who is this?"

Startled by the voice, he glanced up to find Ino with an unreadable expression. Then he thought, '_Where did she get Shin's book?' _He must have dropped it.

"I have no idea who you're talking about," he said. Her azura eyes pierced through him, it's like she could read everything he's thinking or faking, but he knows she can't...can she? Sudden inspiration hit him, he suddenly feels like painting, the image of the azura ocean laid out before him, a bit of purple here and there to show that the ocean is not always a beutiful sight, it may also kill. His fingers twitched, it has been awhile since he had sudden inspiration like this. He then noticed something else...he can't move his arms...they tied him to a freaking chair.

Ino pursed her lips and released a heavy sigh, she then flipped through the book and paused somewhere. "This book...it contains your past and this guy's past, half of it containing yours while the other half contains his. But something bothers me..."

He thinks he knows what she's talking about, it's probably about _that..._

"...everything was drawn nicely, but it all ends when one reaches the middle..." she finished and showed him that page, the page where he had frustrated himself over it for so many years, the page that got him so frustrated that he had gave up and scrawled 'I have forgotten how to smile' on the two pages. He would've thrown the book away but he couldn't bring himself to for some reason.

He looked away from the book, he couldn't look at it anymore longer.

"My magic allows me to enter anyone's mind," his head shot to the blonde, say what now?! "In short, I can read minds or even peek into people's past. So if you don't want me invading your privacy you've better start answering questions."

He glanced around the room, they were still at school and in the music room no less. Well, the music room was sound proof... Sasuke stood near the front door while Neji stood near the back door with his arms crossed, Hinata was handing tissues to Naruto as the blonde blew snot into them while glaring at him. He mentally questioned himself if there were really only so few people involed with this, I mean where was the redhead from earlier? He then concluded that there were a few more people waiting outside the room.

His gaze drifted back to the pony-tailed blonde, who was still wating for his answer. "That person you see there is Shin, he is... he was my brother. We're not blood-related obviously, but that didn't stop him from wanting a family. And of course he had to go and die, leaving me to deal with Danzo...alone..."

The room was silent, he was confussed by the lack of response but chose to stay quiet and watch want happens. That was when Sasuke clicked his tongue and left the room, no one tried to stop him.

* * *

Naruto stared at the pale teen, what he says is the truth, he could tell by the slight quivering of his voice and the look of his eyes. He mentioned someone he thought of as a brother, guess it was Naruto's turn to shove some sense into him then. He was glad that Sasuke had just left, cause this could get a little embarrassing.

But how does one comfort someone who has lost so much? He could never imagine a world without his family or his friends. Sai's emotionless eyes blinked, he then yawned and stared at the wall clock. Ino bit her lip and glanced at Naruto, who in turn softly replied "I'm working on it," as he gathered his thoughts.

"...Hey bastard," he called, successfully managing to gain his attention. His final thoughts were simple, he didn't have to think, this was leaning more towards feeling than having a 'logical' and proper conversation. "I don't like you... I don't like you at all..."

"Naruto!" Ino scolded. He sent her an apologetic smile as Hinata gently pulled her away.

"...But you know what? Even if I haven't met this 'Shin' person, I think that I like him more than you."

"What's your point?" Sai questioned, face darkening as his fist clenched.

"Well, since I like this guy more than you, I think that you're actually in the wrong here," he simply replied. Sai rose a brow in his direction. "You see, I think you're treating this guy unfairly here, like doesn't he deserve to see his little brother enjoying his life instead of moaning over him? I mean I may not have met him, but I think he's a good guy, and I think you should at least show him that you've at least gotten over him, it's the least you could do for him...right?"

The silence that came didn't calm his nerves, did he or did he not say the right thing?

"Untie me," Sai ordered. Ino hesitated, but did as told when Neji sent a confirming nod. Once he was untied, he silently stalked out the door, not bothering to look anyone in the eye. Naruto had a pretty good idea why, he was definitely hiding fustration and tears...

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**A/N: *sigh* I was sulking about my grades... Also, I've been really tired these past few weeks and had no motivation. Don't expect an update quite so soon, I have a really important exam to prepare for. But never fear, I will try to update when I have the time (*cough* whenI'mtoolazytostudy *cough**cough*). Hope you enjoyed the read! **

**-Y**


	15. Chapter 14:Letter

Chapter 14: Letter

He was already by the school gates when his phone's ringtone started blaring out some anime opening (courtesy of Naruto) gaining his attention as he paused mid-step and promised himself to get back at that bouncing ball of blonde filled with nothing but...well, nothing (okay, he knows that was a bit harsh, but what are friends for).

With an annoyed grunt, he dug his phone out of his school bag, nearly dropping it when he saw the caller's ID. What the hell does she want with him now? She rarely calls via cell phone...does she even know how to use one in the first place? His thumb hovered over the answer button. If she's calling then it must be important, right? Duh!

In that instant, Sai came running out the school building. He stopped in front of the raven head, slightly out of breath from running. Sasuke eyed him suspiciously, why was he in such a rush? He then grunted and told the pale teen to wait as he answered the phone.

He pressed the answer button and brought the phone up to his ear, and with a heavy and annoyed sigh questioned, "What?" In all honesty, he never found the need to be 'polite' when some one called him. Why? Because those people are the ones that are calling him, they're already disturbing him and they expect him to be polite to them? Ridiculous!

"_Uchiha! Quick question, answer this seriously or I will have your head on a silver_ _platter_," Tsunade's voice rang out the phone. See what he means by 'disturbing him'? Also, if this lady wasn't 'polite' to him, why should he be 'polite' to her? Ridiculous! "Have you seen Sakura?"

A few seconds of silence crossed between them as the words islowly processed in Sasuke's mind. "_I _will have your head on a silver platter! What do you mean have I seen her?! Was she not with you?!" He growled in to the device.

"_You do _not _speak with me like that, you hear me Uchiha!" _Tsunade bit back, equally vicious. "_She disappeared after asking me directions to the bathroom..." _

"How is that- how does that even happen?! I swear that girl is more trouble than Naru-" he paused as his gaze slowly turned to Sai, who looked satisfyingly uncomfortable as he avoided the Uchiha's gaze, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

"_Uchiha? Oi, why did you stop-" _he cut her off as his phone flew from his hand to the hard concrete ground, the battery scattering a few feet away from it.

* * *

"Where is she?!" He practically growled in his face.

Sai struggled against the raven head's harsh grip on his collar. They were both almost the same height and yet here he was struggling for breath under _pretty boy's _tight grip on his uniform collar he mused. Oh, the joy of unfairness!

"I'll tell you, but you're going to have to ease up on the grip," he said as Sasuke narrowed his eyes and did so, left hand reaching for a _kunai _from his bag, right hand never leaving his collar. Sai let out a relived breath once Sasuke finally released his grip, but that never meant that he had let his guard down. Sai knew better not to poke a sleeping bear, or in this case the grumpy (tempermental and always on period) cat.

"Before I tell you her location, you should know that me kidnapping her was just a fluke. I was never tasked with this mission, it was only meant for a distraction from other possible methods for kidnapping her, and it worked like a charm..." he said in a low voice, careful to watch for reactions from the raven head.

His cautiousness was put to waste, same goes to any other explanation he had mentally prepared to tell this impatient lump of 'I don't need your shit right now'. "I never asked for your life story, and frankly I don't care enough to give two shits. I asked a rather simple question, _where is she?!_" Sasuke really puts the cold in _cold-_hearted doesn't he?

The dark haired teen frowned, a sigh then escaping his lips. "She's with Root..." A rather simple and blunt reply really, but effective enough to bring notice to what little sanity the raven head was clinging to before he blew a fuse.

"**Take me to her**" he growled, eyes glowing scarlet red as the tomoe's swirled into place. He was shaking with rage, shaking so badly that one would've mistaken him for having Hypothermia.

Sai chose his next words carefully, fully knowing what could happen if he even made one mistake. He didn't come to get involved in a conflict nor did he intended to create one, and he intended to keep it that way too. "I'll take you there. But just not right this second."

"**And why not?!**"

"Because Danzo is there right now. He'll be leaving for some business agreements or something later tonight. So if you value Sakura-san's safety I advise you to go save her tonight," he said, trying to keep his voice neutral. "The security will be less gruelling to deal with then, trust me."

"And why should I?" Was thrown at him so suddenly that he nearly lost his balance.

Why should he? I mean based on what he's done to these people, he was sure that they would've ripped his throat out now. His fist clenched, why was he so bad at this? Why does he even care? Why is he even trying to help them in the first place?

A small voice at the back of his head told him that he still wanted company, still wanted to be welcomed, to once again feel the warmth of family and friends. He pushed down those wistful thoughts. What was he thinking? What was he even hoping for? Acceptance?

"...whether you choose to belive me or not is up to you..."

* * *

"_...whether you choose to belive me or not is up to you..._"

Sasuke frowned, the way he said it sounded so deflated, he even looked defeated too. He stared at the pale teen, shoulders slupmed, eyes unfocused, one arm hung of his side loosely as the other gripped on to the sling of his bag like a life line. He looked pathetic, so pathetic that it almost made him laugh. Whatever talk the dobe gave him must have struck a nerve or something, otherwise that stupid smile of his would've already made Sasuke stranggle the life out of him.

"Hn," he grunted and turned on his heel. "I'll be bring the dobe. Be here by 7 o'clock sharp or I'll personally be the cause of your funeral," he threatened icily with one last glare before stalking his way out the school gates.

There, nothing to it.

* * *

He had entered Sakura's temporary room on instinct, promising himself not to tell her that or she'll kill him. He stood by the doorway, right hand placed on the door frame as he stared at her neatly made bed, pulled back curtains and messy study table. The white curtains gently glided with the wind, making a chill run up his spine as he ventured deeper into her room to shut the windows. He took a step back and contemplated whether or not close the curtains, he decided against it.

His eyes wondered over to her bed once more, wondering if she has been sleeping well or not. I mean she did have a nightmare the other day and winded up sleeping with him instead... oops, he wasn't suppose to mention that. (Oh well...)

Just as he was about to leave, he caught something peeking out from her bedside drawer, it looked like the corner of a paper. Curiosity got the better of him as he sat on her bed and pulled the drawer open, the thought of invading her privacy nerver really crossing his mind. A white envolope, 'To: Sasuke' was writen in neat cursive writing on it. He frowned and studied the letter in his hands.

The writing looked familiar. A fuzzy memory of him sitting beside a smiling Itachi as he was doing his homework came to mind, the same cursive writing on papers and books scattered all around them as his younger self stared at them in wonderment.

A sudden sense of fury washed over him as he glared at the envolope in his hands. Why the hell did Sakura keep this to herself? How could she do that knowing his history with Itachi?! He held back a growl and stared at the envolope again, should he open it? To hell with it, it was for him anyway.

He tore the envolope open and unfolded some papers until he found the start of the letter. He was cateful in doing so though, he didn't know why but it frustrates him.

He took a deep breath and started reading.

_Dear foolish little brother..._

* * *

Her eyes shoot open, her breathing ragged as she jerked forward.

Where was she? The last thing she remembered was the scarlet red eyes of the Sharingan staring down at her. A shudder went down her spine as both her hands shot up to her arms to warm them. What was with that sudden chill?

She glanced around her surroudings, nothing was in sight, nothing at all. The whole place was white, no floors, no ceilings, it was absolutely bare of anything. Sakura's eyebrows furrowed as she tried blinking multiple times before observing the whole place again. It was like an empty canvas waiting to be filled with bright and colourful colours.

She stood up abruptly, turning around a few times before finally stopping and realizing that she was trapped here. So she could only do nothing but fume at her misfortune, how could she let something like this happen to her?!

With a deep breath, she yell at the top of her lungs. "HEY LOLIPOP MAN, SHOW YOURSELF YOU PIECE OF-"

"Alright, I'm here," she heard someone spoke from behind. She whirled and faced him, glaring so hard that her eyes burned. The masked man just stood there, unfazed (not like she could tell with that mask) and looking down on her. She hated being short.

"Why am I here?"

She could tell by the slight widening of his visible eye that he was somehow amused by this.

"Normally one would question where they were first...intersting.

"No, not interesting! I want to get out of here!" She hissed with a stomp of her foot.

"Right...I haven't even spoken and you've already started whining."

"And who's fault do you think that I'm whining, hmm?"

The masked man let out a long and tired sigh. This was going to be a long, tiresome and suffering day. Why did he ever sign for this...

* * *

_To: Sasuke_

_Dear foolish little brother_

_I hope you are well and that you bare no ill will towards me (I'm sure you do though). I'm certain you are eager to finally hear the answers you have so desperately searched for all these years. So I dedicate this letter to you for this very reason._

_First, I would like to apologize for the long wait, and I also would like to apologize for not being able to tell this to you in person. I don't think I'll still be in this world when you read this... you see, I seem to have gain a terminal illness. I didn't think I would be able to live this long, but I'm glad I got to see you before I set off on a never ending journey._

_Enough of that, now let me start with the massacre of the clan. In all honestly, I was against the idea of doing so, but the clan has pushed the council to the point where trust was practically invisible to them. You see, father was always against the village, so against them that he even devised a coup d'etat, the whole clan supported the idea._

_I knew that the start of the coup will eventually cause an intervention against the other villages and start up another World War, so I was against father's plans. I bacame a double agent, secretly reporting the Uchiha clan's doings to the council and the Hokage._

_A few weeks after that, Shisui had devised a plan to use his Kotoamatsukami against the Uchiha leaders to compel them to negotiate with the council. Unfortunately the plan failed, Shisui died and I soon received the Mangekyó. That was when I started drifting apart from all of you..._

_Danzo never agreed with the Hokage. While the Hokage still wanted to negotiate with the clan, Danzo wanted the clan killed. Regrettably he was still a council member, so by under direct orders from him I was tasked to kill the whole clan, I was only allowed to spare you though..._

_...it was then that I confronted a masked man who goes by the name of Uchiha Madara (which I may remind you is dead). He and I made a deal, so he halped with the massacre. I took on the task of killing mother and father... they never resisted, nor did they bare any ill will towards me. They told me they were proud of me... I don't know why though... I don't... They also requested that I take care of you, which I have failed in doing, as you can very well see for yourself. The only good news was Danzo being banished from the village._

_I fled from the village and soon joined the Akatsuki, rowdy buch they were...but all very dangerous and powerful. I spent my life hiding, only doing jobs when requested by the leader. All the while I hoped for you to find me. But once I saw you, I knew immediatly that letting you kill me would be a mistake. In the end, I couldn't do anything for you at all... I'm a horrible brother aren't I? The illness has already started doing its job by slowly killing me from the inside, I won't last in this world anymore longer..._

_Sasuke, I don't need your forgiveness. But remember this: no matter what, I will always love you._

_Itachi_

* * *

He laid in his bed, somehow in the middle of reading the letter he had started pacing around the house. That had mysteriously led him to his room, but he couldn't care less honestly.

He lift his hand towards his eyes, examining it before using his elbow to shield his eyes. His other hand was occupaid with the letter, a few dropplets of water was visible on some papers while the rest were dry. He took a shaky breath through his mouth. He repeted that action for awhile longer, hoping and praying that the tears won't come.

And they didn't.

* * *

"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, hand waving in his direction as Sai stood by the side with an unreadable expression. "What took you so long, teme? I thought we would've started aging waiting for you..."

"Hn," Sasuke replied and faced away from them. He couldn't get distracted, he had a mission to focus on.

Sai took a step forward. "Since both of you are finally here, I can show you the routes to Root," he said while rummaging through his bag.

"Wha...?" Naruto started.

"Routes to Root," the pale teen repeated as he pulled out a map.

"Roots to Root?" Naruto questioned as Sasuke snorted and Sai sent him an amused look. The blonde sent both of them a look of confusion.

"Routes," Sasuke stated.

"Routes," Sai repeated.

"Roots," Naruto said with a raised eyebrow.

Both dark hair teens sighed.

* * *

"Checkmate," Sakura said in a bored tone as she stared at the masked man, unamused. "This is like our fifth game, and I've already won three of them. Can we stop? Where did this table even come from?" She questioned as she gestured to said mysterious table.

"I told you, some space-time magic," Tobi (is what he said was his name, but seriously it was Obito. She knows because of Kakashi) said in a slightly noticeble childish whine. "And no, we won't stop playing until I say so."

"You know what? I'd rather go back to being unconscious," the pinkette grumbled and glared at the white surroundings. He said they were in another dimension, and that she couldn't escape even if she wanted to. Hah! As if that could stop her from cursing her head off at him. "Hit me with your best shot, knock me out you pansy!

He glared at her through the single hole of his mask.

"Also, I know your Obito. Your Kakashi-sensei's old friend...along with Rin-san," she said, neglecting the way his shoulders tensed and fist clenched. "Honestly, I thought friends of Kakashi's were more mature than this, kidnapping a teenage girl and forcing her to play chess, and let's add losing to her too," she said with a shake of her head then facing away from him and crossing her legs for added sass.

"What would you know?" He grumbled.

"Hm...you're right! You're absolutely right! I wouldn't know, and so what? I could purposely be making you angry so I could hatch up a plan to escape. Who knows?" She said with a shrug.

"..you're like younger but eviler version of Rin...with pink hair."

"I'll take that as a compliment, _sir_!"

* * *

"Surely you three didn't plan on leaving your dashingly handsome and beloved teacher behind now did you?" Kakashi chimed to three.

"But I'm not even a student of yours..." mumbled a bemused Sai.

"Shouldn't we get going?" Sasuke grumbled.

"How would we know if you're dashingly handsome or not...unless you take off your mask," Naruto said with a hint of suspicion and curiosity.

Kakashi sighed and scratched the back of his head. Honestly, what was he going to do with these students of his? He glanced at the three again, one unamused, one who looked like he had a stick up his ass and one who was simply too energetic.

"Kakashi," Sasuke called, staring at him with a look that clearly says 'I don't have time for your shit' as his fist visibly clenched.

"Alright, alright," the silver haired man said with a wave of his hand. "But I'm taking over this mission. Any objections?"

He got a grunt from Sasuke, one monotoned 'no' from Sai accompanied by an enthusiastic one from Naruto. Kakashi grimced, he was going to have to deal with these three until they got Sakura back. Sakura was always the peacemaker, without her he was afraid that things might start to take a horrible turn. Especially with an added new member who both Sasuke and Naruto don't seem to like. Well, he was never one to turn down a challenge (especially considering the fact that it wasn't wearing a green spandex suit with blindingly shiney teeth).

"Now, care to fill me in?"

* * *

Idiots. He was surrounded by idiots.

"_Naruto_, you dobe! Keep it down!" Sasuke hissed quietly and glared at the blonde.

"I am keeping it down, teme! Are you sure it's not you who's making all that noise?!" Naruto hissed back with equal distaste.

"Actually, it's the both of you who's making all the racket. With your constant bickering, I'm actually quite surprise that we haven't been caught yet," said a smiling Sai with a noticeble annoyed twitch of his left eye.

"And how do we know it's not you you bastard!" Hissed Naruto who looks as if he could punch the pale teen anytime now.

"Easy, I've been doing this my whole life. Unlike you, dickless."

"WHY I OUGHT' TA'!"

"Shut up," two simple words, two simple words with enough malice to shut the three teens up as they silently glared at each other.

"Hey, who goes there?!" An unidentified voice inquired as the three teens stifftened.

Kakashi stared at the three with an unreadable expression. "Idiots."

That should be Sasuke's line honestly.

* * *

"It seems like your friends are here," Obito said halfway into thier fifteenth game, with the score of 9 to 6 (Sakura in the lead).

"Great," she said as she knocked down one of his pawns and placed it with his other 'captured' pieces. "Just like how this game is heading, I don't think that you will ever win. Just so you know, I don't plan on cooperating with you or that old man Danzo."

"Oh him? That old man is mearly a tool," he said as a shudder went down her spine. She glanced up just in time to see him disappear in a swirling portal.

Shit.

* * *

They had to split up when more guards came. Although it only took a few seconds of chasing and he had already lost them. Sasuke didn't know what they would've done to Sai when they found out he betrayed them. He didn't stick around to find out too, all Sai did was threw them Anbu masks so their identities won't be reveled. He got the cat one...coincidence? I think not.

It was a pity he couldn't provide them with anymore information about Root, due to the seal that was placed on him he might as well be better off just leaving them to solve their own problems. And yet he chose to help them...it was a mystery itself on why he choose to do that instead of leaving them be. Kakashi was able to provide a few pointers since he was once in Root, but that information was only so minimal.

All they knew was that the hideout they were in were the reblled Anbu's who chose to stay by Danzo's side (why? He doesn't know) after the banishment. Sasuke really didn't like Danzo, not after what he has made Itachi gone through. Not only Danzo though, the Council was to blame too.

He rounded a corner and continued running forward, trying to run as quietly as possible. The layout of the hideout was still fresh in his mind as he recalled every detail, even little details such as where the weapons room was and where the sleeping quarters were. Sai had mentioned that Sakura may not be in the hideout, she could be kept somewhere else. But Sasuke refused to give up until he found her, he refused to give up until he searched every room in this god foresaken place.

He stopped ubruptly upon the sight of a swirling portal appearing before him.

* * *

"Obito," Kakashi addressed.

"Kakashi," Obito acknowledged. "You have quite a...spunky student."

"Ah, why thank you. She takes after Tsunade."

"No wonder..."

"You were quite the troublemaker yourself back then."

"And you were quite the attention hogger."

Silence as the two glared at each other. The atmosphere around the two was so intense to the point where all the guards after Kakashi could do nothing but stand back and watch dumbly.

"Return her," Kakashi spoke as the room temperature dropped. Sparks started appearing from the silver head man as his glare hardened.

"I'm afraid I can't," Obito said, readying himself for the on coming attack.

They clashed.

* * *

"Eh? Itachi?" Sakura stared dumbly at the eldest of the two brothers in all his glory. Said man smiled at her as Sakura felt her jaw drop. "Wha-what are you doing here?!"

"Technically I'm not here in person," he said and gazed at the up turned table along with the scattered chess pieces and faced down chess board. "You've been busy," he said with an amused smile.

Sakura blushed and avoided his gaze. "Oh...well I-um-you see...I was mad," she stammered and kick at a near by bishop as Itachi chuckled.

"I see."

"Anyways, what did you mean by you're not here in person?" She questioned and dared herself to glance up at him.

"Well...something like a mirage? An illusion you could say, an illusion that I created," he explained, looking mildly troubled as he did so.

"And how'd you know of my predicament?"

"I have my ways," he said as a crow landed on his shoulder, an eye that was once inky black now glowing scarlet red thanks to the Sharingan implanted into it.

"Oh, wow..." she started and stared at it in bewilderment.

"Sakura," he called as she faced him. "Sasuke has read the letter..."

"Eh?! But I-I haven't even given it to him yet!" She said with panic laced into her voice.

"Really now? I only know of this because I can sense whether the seal on the envolope has been broken or not. Do you think he must have found it without you being around?"

"That bastard went through my stuff!"

Itachi gave her a look of amusement. "I don't think that's the point Sakura. I hoped for him to have someone around when he read it...but I don't think that's a problem anymore..."

"Heh...why?"

A sad smile crossed his features. "It doesn't matter anymore..."

Sakura stared at him, he looked paler from the last time she's seen him, skinnier too. His hair had noticeble white streaks and the bags under his eyes are worse for wear. The poor man looked this tired and here he was as a mirage of some sort to help her.

"I would've given you a comforting hug if not for the fact that you're just an illusion," she said and watch as the corner of his lips twiched in amusement.

"Thank you, Sakura," he said with a genuine smile that would make any women fawn over.

"You're welcome," she replied softly.

"Ah, I'm running out of time. Sakura, this little fellow will guide you out so no need to be wary of it," he said as the crow flew to her shoulder. "It will be on its way once it reaches Sasuke, I have entrusted it to hand something over to him, so please make sure it never leaves your side until then."

"Oh, okay. Thanks Itachi, I really appriciate your help."

The raven head gave a small smile. "No, it is I who should be thanking you. Oh, and could you do me one more favour?"

"Sure."

"Take care of Sasuke of for me," he said as his form slowly disappeared.

Sakura stared at the spot he once stood, a sad smile on her face. "So little guy, take me away from this horrendous place. My kitty needs me."

* * *

"Why am I stuck with you?" Questioned a grumpy Naruto.

"Technically, I'm not that hype to be stuck with you too," Sai said with a forced smile. "Now stop talking or they'll find us."

"Where is this anyway?" The blonde ignored his warning and glanced around. The room they were hiding in was small, it had simple decor like the beige coloured bed sheets, a white bedside table and a lamp. A small window was located in the corner of the room, where a small table was perched underneath it. On top of the table was a picture frame.

Curious, the blonde strolled over and picked the picture up, the picture contained a teen with white hair, grinning a huge grin while ruffling the hair of a younger version of Sai who was caught in the middle of laughing.

Naruto stared at the picture. He had barely recognized the dark haired teen, I mean he looked so happy...so at peace...

"Idiot! Don't touch anything!" Sai whispered/screamed as he snatched the photo frame away from the blonde.

"Dude, seriously where are we?"

The pale teen sighed. "We're in Shin's room."

* * *

Sasuke stared at the swirling portal as out came Sakura with a crow on her shoulder. Both teens stared at each other, Sasuke with slightly wide eyes and Sakura with her mouth open in shock. As the crow squawked for attention, both immediatly broke eye contact with Sasuke clearing his throat awkwardly and Sakura mumbling, "well, we sure found him fast."

"The crow's new," Sasuke stated, a frown marrying his features.

"Yeah...well, long story," she said with a sheepish laugh.

The crow squawked once more and bolted towards an unsuspecting Sasuke. One of its eye glowing scarlet from the Sharingan. It halted right in front of the raven head, its beak inches from his face, right in between his eyes. It then scattered into black feathers, forming an image of Itachi.

Sakura stared, mouth agape. "What the..."

The raven head held a breath as the image of Itachi smiled towards him, black feathers decending every once in awhile. "I'll be entrusting the Sharingan to you now."

Sasuke's eyes only widened considerably as Itachi's eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Never be afraid of being afraid, Sasuke...I'm glad I got to see you one last time," he said with a sad smile, moving closer to him and bumping foreheads with him. "As I've mentioned in the letter, no matter what, I will always love you," he finished before fading away.

Silence.

Black feathers decended from above, the last one landing on the head of a confused Sakura. Sasuke blinked, looking mildly confused as well.

"What just happened?" He questioned as Sakura tried picking her jaw off the ground.

"I don't know," she replied as Sasuke walked towards her. He stopped in front of her and plucked the black feather off her head. The pinkette stared at him. "Are you...are you okay?"

He sighed. "I'm fine," he muttered quietly.

She didn't think so. "Are you sure?"

Sasuke had a bad habit of keeping to himself in these kinds of situations, he tends to close up and won't let anyone in until the pain subsides. But Sakura knows that the pain will never fade. It will still be there no matter what, you could only hide it behind smiles and hope that someone will be there for you. She knows she can't do anything to help, but she'll still try. She wanted to take a careful approach, he was already so vulnerable.

She reached for his hand and took it into her own, lightly noting how they fit perfectly together. She then took a step closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'm here, Sasuke..."

His arm had encircled her waist hesitantly, his head resting on her shoulder as well as Sakura noticed how board his shoulders seemed compared to hers. Her other hand found its way into his raven locks, silently playing with a few strands as the thumb of her other hand gently rubbed his knuckles.

"It's okay to be afraid."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**A/N: Yay... I'm done. Honestly, I'm not proud of it. I'm just meh with this, I kept messing up the format of the letter and got pissed off, so I left it like that. Oh yeah, the final fight of Naruto VS Sasuke is drawing close, I'm so excited I can hardly sit still! Anyways, thanks for sparing your time, review to get me motivated~ (~=○=)~**

**-Y**


	16. Chapter 15: Pierrot

Chapter 15: Pierrot

The punch he threw was hard enough to leave a crack in Obito's mask. He bit back a cry of pain as Obito stabed a kunai in his thigh, luckily not deep enough to cause unconsciousness. Quickly, he sent a roundhouse kick to his opponent with his good leg and immediatly knelt to pull the kunai out of his thigh. He cringed, but found that it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

He ripped one of his sleeves off and tightly secured it around his injury to stop the bleeding. Obito stagered and growled at him then he threw his cracked mask to the ground, finding it useless and getting in the way. His Sharingan glemed dangerously is the light as Kakashi scruntinized him cautiously, his hand twitching to his kunai pouch. Obito's eyes visibly narrowed, surely he didn't think to use a kunai against him when he could use his Kamui? He didn't think Kakashi would be so careless.

He dashed towards the silver head man just as he threw a kunai towards his way. The kunai went pass him, it happened so quickly that even he couldn't comprehend what had happened. The next thing he knew was that he was punched through a wall. He cringed as pain shot through his body.

Kakashi smirked behind his mask, Minato had warned him about Obito's Kamui and had provided enough information for him to come up with a counter attack. But it can only be used once, Obito won't be falling for the same trick twice. Obito was quick to recover as he dashed towards Kakashi once more. Kakashi having to think fast immediatly reached for another kunai from his pouch and stood in a readying stance just as Obito activated his kamui.

In a blink of an eye Kakashi had found that both of them had been transported to another dimension, a dimension were he was faced with cube like blocks. Obito stood on top of a higher block, glaring down at him with cold eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" Kakashi questioned quietly.

Obito's glare never wavered. "You never kept that promise, Kakashi."

"Rin would have never agreed with this!"

"Well, she's not here to tell me that now is she?!"

Kakashi clicked his tongue, '_I'm sorry Rin_' he though as he summoned his Chidori. The weight on his shoulders increased, he would bear it, he would bear all the pain he has made his precious comrades go through. No matter what, he will sacrifice it all.

His Chidori had once again ran a hole through a friend's heart, the body of his precious friend felt cold in his arms.

* * *

Shizune paced outside Tsunade's office, wondering if the blonde had finally calmed down enough to face her own assistant. She took a deep breath and opened the double doors to the office, ready to face the blonde Sage and her ever famous temper. A step in and she was already met with a table lamp nearly missing her head. The dark haired women afraid and surprised had let out a sqeak as she took in the office surroundings.

The large mahogany desk up turned and broken in half, papers scattered all around the office floors as books and pens littered the floor too. Shizune had entered the office just in time to catch an enraged Tsunade throw her chair out the window.

She yelpped and quickly ran to her side, trying her best to calm the raging blonde down as much as she could. They had guest for goodness sake!

Jiraya and Orochimaru stood outside the office, one nervous and one amused as the loud crashing noises continued in the office. The sounds of Shizune trying to calm the busty blonde down was blocked off by said woman's ever loud roar of furry.

"She must be really mad..."

"No shit Sherlock."

"Tsunade-sama!"

"UCHIHA! I WILL FIND YOU AND BREAK YOU!"

* * *

They left Shin's room once the coast was clear and snuck up into the air vents. Surprisingly Naruto was silent throughout the whole thing. Sai blinked and glanced behind him to find the blonde deep in thought. His eyes were unfocused as he continued following the dark haired teen. It wasn't as if Sai didn't enjoy the silence, it was just that it was too unsettling, Naruto was _always _talking. He bit his lip and brushed it off, he wouldn't be able to do anything anyway...but still.

"Your awfully quiet," he started and glance behind him to watch for the blonde's reaction.

Naruto simply grunted in response, which unnerved him even more. "...Oi, dickless-"

"Hey Sai," the blonde said, cutting him off. Sai pauses and glances in his direction. "Can we switch places? Your ass looks a lady's and it's really disturbing."

Sai stares at him for a few seconds, contemplating whether or not to kick him in the face, since he could easily accomplish that in his position. He decided against it and instead opted for a witty come back. "Be my guest, lead the way and get us lost why don't cha'. In case you haven't noticed, we're in enemy territory, and getting lost in enemy territory is _bad."_

Naruto scowled and glared at Sai's back as he continued following him through the air vents. They went through twist and turns that Sai had memorized since young. He remembers crawling through the air vents with Shin when they were younger, they often snuck out to play in the middle of the night where no one would mind them. His train of thought came to an abrupt stop as he heard voices from below.

_Very _familiar voices.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura paced around the hideout in absoulute silence, neither uttering a word, not even the chatter box of the two dared to voice her current thought. She stares at Sasuke's broad back in awe, muscles contracting and expanding with each movement of his arms, it tenses when he senses near by enemies and relaxes when they are out of sight it never really occured to her how blessed she was to have met this beautiful man. She feels her curiousity intensify when he stares back at her with those onyx eyes of his, such dark and mysterious eyes he has...

She thinks she has fallen for him, _hard._

"H-how are you holding up?" She questions and mentally curses herself for her strained voice.

"Hn..." he grunts and faces away from her.

She sighs and let's her eyes wonder to their joint hands. _He's still not letting go, _she muses to herself as he drags her and rounds another corner. "Where exactly are we going?" She finally inquires.

"Home," he simply says as he continuses menuvouring in and out of hallways. _Home..._the word echoes in her mind.

"Okay..." she muttered quietly. "You didn't come alone did you?"

"Kakashi, dobe and Sai are here," he says and squeezes her hand reasuringly. She nods and they continue moving further down a corridor.

* * *

Kakashi coughs out blood and stares at Obito in shock, the hole that was caused by his Chidori stared back at him mockingly while Obito's cold gaze met his shocked ones. One of his hands supported the recently stabbed wound on his abdomen caused by Obito, trembling along with his scattered emotions.

"How...?"

"I've gone through a lot, Kakashi," he says even though the sides of his mouth is covered in blood. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find your little student again."

Kakashi grits his teeth, his left hand fisting tightly while his right hand supported the wound. Obito continues stalking away, weakly and unbalanced before pausing in his advanced and looking back towards the silver head man.

"You should've kept your promise," he says before disappearing in a swirling vortex.

* * *

"Danzo's back," Sai says uncharacteristically panicked, his blood turned cold as he thought of the possibilities that could occur. He moves more faster and curses along the way for their slow advance and stops at an opening to crawl out. Naruto being confused at how agitated his dark haired companion seemed only followed him out. He questions him soon after but was brushed off as he paced back and forth, the blonde stared at him with a brow raised in confusion.

"So let me get this straight, Danzo's back," he inquires.

"Yes," Sai says in reply as his pacing quickened.

"And you're panicked why?"

Sai pauses and directs his gaze to the blonde, what was there not to get? They were screwed that's what. The teen let out a fustrated sigh, he was going to have to speak dumb to get it through this knuckle head's thick head. "Danzo catching us is a big _no no_, capiche?"

Naruto stared back at him with narrowed eyes. "Anyone would know that's a big 'no no'! What I meant was that if it was something to get panicked about! I mean all we have to do is not get caught, right?"

Huh...

Maybe he wasn't as thick headed as he thought he was. "..sorry," he mumbles out and scratches the back of his head.

Naruto sends him a triumphant smirk. "Even if we do run into him, we can just kick his sorry ass and call it a day. We have Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan-if we manage to find her of course-we can beat him easily, no sweat!"

Sai sighs again. "I admire your positive outlook even in this kind of situation, but it's not as easy as you make it out to be..."

"Well, it doesn't have to be. I mean it's only complicated if you make it out to be," Naruto says and once again makes him speechless.

"You know, you're a better influence to me than I thought, Naruto."

The blonde grins. "Hey, you got my name right!"

* * *

"How lucky of you to have recruited me," Kabuto says with an amused smile. "You could have died considering the size of this wound."

"Shut up and do as you are told!" Obito barks at him weakly.

Kabuto grins. "Right, right, you're all patched up. I'd say give yourself two days of rest before I use magic on your wound."

"I don't have two days, heal me tomorrow first thing in the morning," he grumbles and puts a shirt on, discarding the blood soaked one in the trash. "So, how are the preparations going?" He inquires with a grimace.

"It's going well, I'd say it's close to completion," the white haired man hums in delight, desposing of the blood covered gloves and placing the used medical tools under hot water. "Right now I just need a living host."

Obito smirks. "I have the perfect one. How soon do you need it?"

"I'm ready anytime," he says while drying his hands.

"The sooner the better," he says and stands up from his place on the check up table, grimacing from the pain of the wound once again. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a little mouse to catch."

"With the wound you're supporting? I don't think so. Why don't you ask your naked white minions to do it?"

Obito sighs. "Unfortunately they're not so bright up here," he says and gestures to his head.

"Then let her go for now, no rush."

"And after I went through the trouble of bringing her here," Obito grumbled, earning a chuckle from Kabuto.

"What's so troubling about knocking a little girl out cold and bringing her here?"

"Have you forgotten who she takes after?"

"Oh..." he says, all traces of joking gone. "The blonde hag..."

* * *

Kakashi blinked several times. This was not good, he was losing quite the amount of blood already. How he is able to stay conscious is a mystery to him. He wonders down the corridors of the hideout, the fuzzy image of its layout in his mind helping him not to get lost. It was a good thing he anticipated a situation where they are forced to split up and decided for a meeting spot, problem was that they had no means of comunication and he was in dire need for medical attention.

It was when he hears voices down the hallway that he starts pnicking. Damn, he was in no condition to run nor hide or fight. He watches as the walls of the hallway start to become blurry, he thinks of Rin and Obito, then he thinks of Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto and he wishes he could see them one last time. He slumps against the wall, eyes focused on the blinking light above him.

They should really get that fixed, he thinks and focuses his gaze to the puddle of blood surrounding him. That is a lot of blood, he thinks to himself. The average human adult contains about 6.6 litres of blood in their body, a child has about 3 litres of blood in their body and an infant has about 300 mililitres of blood in their body. For an adult to die from blood loss or exsanguination, they would need to lose at least 2 to 3 litres of blood. So here's the question: how much blood has he already lost?

His vision blurred, the last thing he remembered was the panicked cry of the student he came here to rescue.

Sorry, Sakura (Rin).

* * *

Sakura releases a relieved breath and sinks into a near by chair. The worse was over for now, he was stable and will be up and at it after Tsunade heals him with another round of magic. Although it still scares her how easily he could have died just like that, the amount of blood he lost was a lot, most people would have already kicked the bucket. She thanked Hagoromo that he was still alive. The mere thought of losing someone precious to her haunted her, and to think that she would be the cause of it...she would never be able to live with herself if that ever happened.

She glances at her teacher's sleeping face, or more like half of it since the bottom half was covered with a white cloth. This man could have died because of her...the man who wanted nothing but peace and to patch up his unmendable past. A shudder went up her spine, this could have been prevented if she were more careful, less reckless and more rational. She felt disgusted with herself, she only selfishly cared for Sasuke and was ignorant to others who cared deeply for her. She wanted to puke at her behaviour, she was only doing things that satisfied herself, not even considering the risk people take for her safety and well being.

She decided to stop self pitying herself and call Ino to ask how she was doing, since that was her intention from the start.

* * *

"So where's Sai?" Sasuke questions the blonde across from him.

"Interrogation room," Naruto says in between a yawn.

The two were stationed outside of Kakashi's room, Sasuke leaning against a wall with his arms crossed while Naruto sat across from him in one of the waiting chairs provided. Naruto was shocked at how lucky they were to have not run into Danzo while on their little rescue mission. Still, the news of Kakashi-sensei possibly dying nearly gave him a heart attack. Who would have thought that the infamous Sharingan Kakashi, The Copycat Magician and teacher of the ever loved Uzumaki Naruto would have faced a near death experience? It honestly scares him how easily living creatures can die just like that, human or not.

Naruto directs his gaze to the sullen teen in front of him, something was not right with him and whatever it was didn't sit well with the blonde. Sasuke glances up and meets his gaze then raising a questioning eyebrow at him, Naruto gives him a sheepish grin before directing his gaze else where. Something was definitely wrong or he would have received a snarky comment by now.

"Ya know, Danzo was back when we were still at that place," he starts to break the silent atmosphere.

Sasuke stares at him with a penetrating gaze as he shifts in his seat uncomfortably. "What's your point, dobe?"

Naruto sends him a sneer. "Forget it."

It was then that the door to Kakashi-sensei's room clicked open that both teens broke their little staring match. Sakura emerges with an unreadable expression on her face and gives each of them a small smile before joining Naruto on one of the waiting chairs. Naruto catches the irritated look Sasuke sends her when she sits next to him and gives him a questioning look, it was (of course) ignored.

"How's Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto inquires.

"He's stable. Suprisingly well considering the amount of blood loss he's supported," she replies tiredly.

"Whoa Sakura-chan, I think you should get some rest, you look like a zombie."

The pinkette rolls her eyes. "Always the ladies man, huh Naruto?"

He gives her one of his signature grins and ushers both Sasuke and her to head home while he stays with Kakashi. She agrees hesitantly and bids him good bye before heading out with Sasuke.

Once they were out of sight he lets out a relieved sigh and slouches in one of the waiting chairs.

"You're not going in?" He hears a familiar voice and straightens up.

"Yamato-dancho-ah! I mean sensei, what are you doing here?"

"Can't I come visit a superior?" He says and stands near the door to Kakashi's room.

"Of course you can!" The blonde says in a hurry. "I mean we don't see you around anymore, or at least not as often as we do."

"Well, I've been working to the bone under your father and haven't actually had the time to visit you guys much less see you all. But hey, you can still see me at school," he said with a smile.

"School...I'd rather not think of that place please."

Yamato chuckles. "Well, are you coming in or not?"

* * *

It was a Thursday today and unfortunately for them they had school, even with all that has happened yesterday Sakura being the diligent student she prides herself to be decides to go today, even if she has to deal with a grumpy Sasuke.

"Why bother going? It's like ten in the morning, we'll be late," he had grumbled to her.

"It's better than not going, Sasuke. I mean, my attendance record is on the line here," she says to the closed door as she fastens the hook of her bra and locates her uniform shirt. "I don't want to worry anyone by not going. You can choose to not go if that's what you want, but that would mean breaking our promise of sticking together...even though it was already broken yesterday but that's nobody fault."

The door to her room is then kicked open and she squeaks in surprise. "HOLY SAGE OF SIX PATHS! I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF CHANGING UCHIHA! GET OUT, NOW!"

He sends her an amused smirk and walks in anyway. "But that would mean breaking our promise of sticking together again, Sa. Ku. Ra."

The redness of her cheeks deepened considerably as she clutches the shirt closer to her chest. "T-this is different! Get out you pervert!" She fumes and throws the nearest object in her reach, which so happens to be a pack of unused pads.

Sasuke catches it with ease and eyes it before sending her a look of confusion. "Now I know why you're so easily angered these few days."

"Tha-that's not-" she stammers as he nears her, placing the pads one side before standing right in front of her. She flinches from his gaze and looks away as he draws in closer and stops near her ear. Sakura freezes when she feels his hot breath on her bare shoulder and her ear, her pulse rapidly increasing along with the darkening of her cheeks.

"You're blushing, _Sakura,_" he says her name hoarsely, sending shivers down her spine. She feels her breathing pattern waver and she clutches the shirt like a life line. "You have no idea how mad I was at your reckless behaviour."

She didn't trust herself to speak in this situation, so she simply nodded. "Naughty girls like you need a punishment, don't you agree?"

"I..." she starts but was immeadiatly silenced when he starts nibbling at her collar bone. Her breath hitched when she feels his tongue on her earlobe and his hands on her bare waist. She searches for her voice. "Sasuke-" she starts but stops when it comes out more like moan. She mentally curses herself, damn, she couldn't trust her voice anymore.

She tries thinking of another solution before her thoughts became nothing but mush. She decides to try pushing him away and stops because suddenly his mouth was doing wonders on her neck. When he finally pulls back she had every intention of setting things straight, notice the keyword 'had' which is in past tense. Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, it was already silenced by his.

One thought remained in her mind though, she had already lost.

* * *

Sasuke smirked in triumphant when she finally releases her hold on her shirt and moves to wrap her arms around his neck, this gives him a better view of her chest. He kisses her slowly and waits for her to beg him for entrance, this _was _a punishment. When he finally lets her tongue enter his mouth he decides to memorize the shape of her lips, how soft they were against his and how delicate they were.

He notices little details like how her eyelashes touches her cheek when they were closed and the tiny mole underneath her right eye. When she stops for air, he decides to refamiliarize himself with her neck, maybe give her a hickey while he was at it. The thought of some other male being able to touch her like this enrages him, so claiming what was his was only natural, right? The image of her sitting beside Naruto crosses his mind and he bites into her delicate skin, he knows Naruto would never do such a thing but the mere thought of it sickens him.

Satisfied with his work, he dives for her lips once again. His hands runing up and down her spine slowly as he practically devours her, the tables turn when she bites his lower lip. She is then tossed on to the bed and he hovers over her. "Still going to school, _Sakura?" _

She glares at him and opens her mouth to speak, but he cuts her off by taking of his shirt and sending her his infamous smirk. "You were saying?"

She swallows and he knows he has won.

* * *

The evening rays shone through the window and directly on her face, her eyes flutter open and she is met with a messy room, clothes were scattered on the floor as well as some pillows too. She rubs her eyes to get rid of any lingering sleepiness and she feels a shudder go up her spine. She glances down to her naked body and realizes what had happened several hours ago. She blushes and glances over to the other side of the bed to find it empty.

She bites her lower lip and gets up to look for something to wear, she finds Sasuke's discarded shirt and decides to put it on. The thought of a shirtless Sasuke wondering around the house never really crossing her mind.

She finds her phone in her bag and turns it on to see several miss calls and messages. She cringes and clicks on the call back button, waiting for someone to pick up. The phone is answered on the third ring and she hears Ino's pissed off voice.

"Hey, Ino," Sakura says timidly to the phone.

"_Really?! All I get is a 'Hey, Ino' from you after you said you would come to school on the phone this morning?!_" Ino's shrill voice rang through the phone.

Sakura flinches from the device and brings it back to her ear. "Well-"

"_Hold up, I'm gonna video call you. Tenten and Temari have somethings to say as well,_" Ino said and in a split second hangs up the phone.

Sakura's phone chimes again and she sighs in agony before answering the video call. "Hello again, Ino," she says boredly and when she didn't receive a reply she sends her friend a questioning look. "What? Can't hear me? Bad connection or something?"

Ino stares at her in shock and she can hear Temari and Tentens voices in the background questioning her. "S-Sakura?"

"Yes Ino?"

"Isn't that-I mean who's shirt is that?"

Sakura's gaze slowly follow the finger Ino is using to point to Sasuke's shirt and a thought crosses her mind. '_Oh..._'

She hangs up and stuffs her phone under the matteress of her bed and stands up to look for some clothes and go bathe. She was so screwed tomorrow, she thinks while picking up the scattered clothes and placing them one side before grabing another freash set of clothing and heading out the door. She wonders where Sasuke is and stops that train of thought when she hears the 'clanging' sounds of pots and pans in the kitchen.

Figures, she thinks to herself.

* * *

"What's for dinner?" He hears her question from behind and he turns to face her. His gaze first lands and her bare legs before landing on the shirt she was wearing, he mentally gives himself a pat on the back at how much more appealing she looks in his clothes. His gaze then travels to her face and he decides it was about time he replies her instead of ogling over her figure.

"Unfortunately with all that's happened these past few days, I haven't had the time to go grocery shopping," he says and gestures to the empty cupboards. "So, we'll be having the dobe's instant noodles for dinner..._unfortunately._"

"Ah...I see," she says with a nod. "Well, I'm gonna go freashen up then!" She chirps and walks off.

Sasuke turns back to the task at hand and smirks. She was faking happiness in place of angriness, he saw that little twitch of her eye before she walked off. She was fooling nobody, he rather enjoys poking fun at her at times like these but he will let it slide for now since he got what he wanted for now, and that was unfortunately her herself.

* * *

"Haruno Sakura!" Ino calls and races up to the pinkette, eyes containing those of a she-devil. "What in the name of the Kages were you doing yesterday?!"

"Um..." she starts but Ino shushes her with a hand to the face.

"I've heard enough," she says and directs her glare towards a yawning Sasuke. "You were with her yesterday, what were _you _doing?"

"Claiming her virginity," Sasuke smoothly states and Ino's jaw drops to the ground.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yelps, face beat red as she slaps him across his bicep.

"Sasuke, I'm borrowing Sakura for awhile!" Ino says before snatching the pinkette by her arm and draging her away. Sasuke stands there in silence and watch as Ino makes off with Sakura, an arm hooks around his neck and he has the sudden urge to punch something.

"What do you want dobe?" He questions the blonde and swats his arm off.

"Oh, you're back to normal," Naruto chimes and walks ahead of him. The raven head rolls his eyes follows after him.

"What do you mean I'm back to normal, nothing was wrong from the start."

"Say that all you want, but whatever it is I bet it had something to do with Itachi."

Sasuke pauses and glances at the blonde's retreating back.

"If you need me, I'm all ears," Naruto said and continue walking to the school's front doors.

* * *

Ino fast walks through the hallway and whips out her cell phone, texting at an inhuman speed all the while still avoiding bumping into people. Sakura glares at the back of the blonde's head and tries snatching her arm back. Ino's iron grip only tightens and Sakura curses her luck.

"Where exactly are we going Ino?" The pinkette questions her sharply and once again tries to snatch her arm back.

"Emergancy meeting with the girls, you are to tell us what exactly happened yesterday," Ino says sternly and rounds a corner, barely avoiding a male student.

"Ino, I don't need you to mother me, I'm seventeen for Kaguya's sake!"

"Still too young dear child," she says drags the pinkette up several flights of stairs before reaching the roof.

"You lost yours last year! You told me so!" The pinkette fumed and finally snatches her arm back.

Ino pauses to momentarily scruntinize the fuming pinkette before shrugging and opening the door to the roof.

"PIG!" Sakura fumes and follows her out to the roof. The strong winds blew her hair back and she blinks to find her girl friends already gathered on the roof. She suddenly wishes she was back in that weird dimension and playing chess with Obito.

She purses her lips, gathers her courage and marches over to her friends. There was nothing to worry about, she will just change the subject if necessary. Once she approached them, she makes sure to take her seat beside Hinata, just in case she needed back up. She glares straight at Ino, who was innocently whistling and looking at her nails. "Hello, girls," she says to the rest of them.

"S-Sakura, are you okay? I heard you got kidnapped by the enemy the day before," the ever kind soul that was Hinata questions her, face full of worry.

Ino immeadiatly stops whistling to stare at her pink haired friend, eyes wide and filled with shock. "WHAT?! And how come I've never heard of this so called kidnapping business?!" The blonde screams at her in worry.

Sakura pouts and crosses her arms in front of her. "I'm fine. Besides, I didn't want to worry you, you already seemed so down these few days."

"Right..." she mumbles and Sakura uncrosses her arms. "Sorry..."

Sakura shakes her head and sends a smile to her friends to mask her distaste towards the chosen subject to converse over. She really could not bring herself to mention Kakashi, but they would have to find out sooner or later anyway. She was done with selfish thoughts.

"Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, Sasuke and Sai came to get me... Unfortunately Kakashi-sensei nearly died from blood loss," she says and hears a gasp from Hinata. Sakura bites her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. She still could hear her own screams of panic and the image of her blood covered hands haunted her, the blood of her beloved teacher. "He's fine now, he's currently resting in the hospital Tsunade-shishou works at. She says she'll check up on him again once he wakes up. But honestly, who know how long that could take..."

She hides her shaking hands behind her back and away from her friends sight, making them worry will do no one good. She is only able to keep calm now because of the image of his sleeping-self safely tucked in the hospital bed.

"Wow, you guys go through a lot," Temari says as Tenten nods her head in agreement.

"Well-yeah..." Ino says quietly.

"S-should we all visit him?" Inquires Hinata.

"I think we should, we can go after school ends," Sakura says and checks her watch. "We have about ten minutes left before the bell for first period goes off, you guys want to head down now?"

"Sure, but first, Sakura?" Tenten calls, gaining the pink haired teen's attention. "Is-is that a hickey on your neck?"

Sakura tenses, her hand slaps over the hickey, she stands up and starts dashing towards the exit like a mad women.

* * *

"Danzo huh..." Kabuto starts and busied himself by rearranging medical equipment on to an empty shelf. "I'm surprised you would choose that old geezer. I mean he's not the most perfect host, but he'll make do since you are in sure a hurry."

"Great, I'll get that that old coot tomorrow night," Obito says while rolling his shoulders to test for any pain. Because having bandages wrapped around his abdominal area was uncomfortable and having them removed felt great. He picks up a Shuriken and aims for a falling leaf outside the window, he throws it and he is left with a satisfying bullseye.

"I'm curious, why Danzo that old buffoon? Why not someone younger? I feel bad that he's being used by you like this, is there a particular reason?" The white haired man questions.

"You? Feel bad for him? I find that hard to belive. That old man isn't just some old man, do you know how many of these he has?" Obito said and gestured to his Sharingan eye.

"So this is revenge for your clan?" He asks, amused.

"Hn, whatever I'm planing to do with him will be considered nothing compared to what that kid Sasuke plans to do if he ever gets his hands on him or even finds out about the old man's collection of Sharingans. I've seen what that kid can do and it's messed up," Obito says and slumps into an unoccupaid chair.

"That is why Orochimaru has taken a liking to him in the first place,"he admits with a forced smile and pushes his glasses in place.

"Uchiha Sasuke, huh..."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**A/N: So who enjoyed possesive Sasuke? I know I did, lolz. Oh and Cassandra Echizen, what I meant was the fight between Naruto and Sasuke in the _anime_, sorry for the confusion. Anyway, I would like to thank those who stuck with this story despite its horrible update times and cringe worthy writing. I just hope to make a person's day better by writing, thank you. I will try my best to upload the next chapter as fast as I can.**

**-Y**


	17. Chapter 16:Broken

Chapter 16: Broken

Rain. Cold and wet rain, the enemy of the feline. Sasuke watches as the rain created thick prison bars against the glass window. He tells himself that the rain will eventually stop, but judging by the downpour he starts to doubt himself. Throughout the years of his childhood to adolescent, never had he gotten over his dislike towards mother nature's gift of the rain, basically it was either mother nature's tears or...something else in Sasuke's opinion.

Be it Spring rain, Summer rain or Autumn rain, rain will still be rain, cold and wet. Forget rain being a time of peacefulness, if one was trapped in rain one wouldn't be thinking so right now. Washed clothes will never dry, annoying insects will start bugging you if it is a humid downpour and sometimes the humidity is unplesant. He remembers having to run home in the rain on several occasion, and as you can tell he did not have a joyous time.

He did not know why, but those thoughs decided to take a one hundred and eighty degree turn today. He will let the unplesant weather have its ways just for today and only today. You might ask 'why of all days today seemed acceptable?' Easy, because the pink haired girl leaning against his chest says so otherwise. She told him she loved Autumn rains and he commented on how she says the same with Summer rains and Spring rains, she in turn just giggles and concludes to herself that she loves rain itself. He returns her enthusiastic claim with a monotone 'Hn' and she pouts.

A few minutes of silence crosses between the two, and it is enough time for her to fall into slumber. He with the book in his hand and in the middle of reading pauses in doing so to stare at her sleeping face. He then smiles a small smile and kisses her on the forehead lightly, thinking that she was his.

His and his alone.

* * *

Time goes by fast, she thinks to herself as she wraps the scarf around her neck tighter. The Autumn leaves, red, orange and yellow dance around lazily in the wind and she wonders if she could ever be as free as they are. The boy by her side sneezes softly and she giggles as he grumbles incoherent words to no one in particular. As the wind blows her hair into her eyes, she thinks to herself that it was getting long and might need some trimming soon.

"Awfully cold considering that Summer only ended a few days ago," she says to make light conversation.

Her companion merely grunts in agreement and she is curious to what he is thinking about. She did not inquire of it though, merely staring at him with her large virdian irises. He wears the wool hat with cat like ears that she had so jokingly suggested him to purchase, although it ended with her purchasing the same thing since he said that he would only get it if she did. She was not wearing hers today though, she only thought the scarf would block out the cold. Sasuke seems to only support a sweater and the wool hat.

She comments that he looks adorable and he glares at her, she simply laughs and runs ahead of him.

* * *

They run into a man with long spiky black hair, he supported a neatly ironed pinstripe suit and an expensive looking cane by his side. Sasuke immeadiaty gets into a defensive position in front of the pinkette and glares coldly at the man. The man simply tips his invisible top hat and grins at the both of them.

"Pleasure to met you little miss, would you mind if I escorted you else where?" He says in a smooth yet menacing tone, completely ignoring the presence of her male companion. She reaches for the neck piece around her neck and clutches it tightly.

"Who are you?" She questions in a slightly panicked, slightly suspicious tone.

"Oh, how rude of me. I am-"

"Uchiha Madara," Sasuke cuts him off before he finished. Said man finally averts his attention to his decendant and a smirk makes its way up his face.

"My my, you look a lot like my deceased younger brother. And your eyes...I regret not reaching out to you instead of Obito. Might I ask your name young lad?" He queries in such a civil way that nearly takes both their guards down.

"Uchiha Sasuke," he answers slowly. Sasuke being the cautious person he was gives Sakura a look, a look that practically screams _run_! She nods and waits for a chance in doing so, she thinks to herself that she will only get in his way if they ever engage in combat now.

"Well then Sasuke, it was nice meeting you. But I'm going to have to kill you now," he says and in a flash she saw nothing but red. It stains Sasuke's sweater and her boots, some even gets on to her left cheek and she is paralyzed. Sasuke manages to avoid the damaged aimed towards his heart, but the damaged was severe on his left arm. To put it more accurately, his whole arm was missing. It lays lifelessly on the ground, unmoving and surrounded by blood.

Her screams did nothing as she watches the raven head kneel next to the lifeless arm, eyes full of shock and confusion. She is silenced when the man in the pinstripe suit knocks her out cold.

"Now look, you've got blood all over my new suit," the man grumbles and Sasuke growls at him. He sends him a look so full of hatred that makes Madara proud, this is the look an Uchiha should possess, the man suddenly feels disappointed at choosing Obito instead of this boy. "I've taken quite a liking to you my boy, so I shall spare your life. I would advise you not to move so much as it will only make the bleeding worse. Now, I must really get a move on now, farewell."

He disappears into a swirling vortex with Sakura held in his arms.

The screaming starts and he doesn't stop until he passes out from blood loss and tiredness.

* * *

Naruto stares at the raven head, peacefully laying asleep in bed, lifeless but undead. The heart monitor beeps in rhythm with his heart and it echoes throughout the quiet room. The blonde observes his friend, not much of him is different, except for his hair which had grown out, the ever famous duck-butt esque hair absent from sight. The only noticeble diffrence of his best friend from then and now was the missing left arm.

Naruto frowns, he knows his friend had commited quite the number of wrong doings, but making him go through this as a punishment was just plain harsh. Sasuke never liked anyone pitying him this way, in fact he quite loathed it. The blonde decides to let some sunlight in and opens the curtains in the room. Just then the door to the room opens as well and in steps in Kakashi, well and alive.

"Yo, Kakashi-sensei," he greets with a small smile. Kakashi acknowledges the blonde with a nod and moves to stand next to the sleeping teen. "He's an idiot isn't he? And he always goes on about how the idiot is me when he is the actual one." Naruto says with a forced laugh.

Kakashi's gaze shifts from the raven head to the blonde, a sympathetic look in his eyes. The silver head man then strolls over to the blonde and places a hand on his messy unmanned tresses. Naruto stifles a sob and averts his attention out the window.

Red leaf, orange leaf, yellow leaf.

* * *

"Naruto-kun, you should eat," prods a concern Hinata. She looks down to his untouched raman and purses her lips.

Naruto simply hums in reply and she releases a fustrated sigh that startles him. Never had he witness this fair women do such a thing, ever. "Hi-Hinata-chan?"

"What?" She pouts and he flinches.

"I'll eat, okay? So don't be mad," he says with a sheepish smile and picks his chopsticks up for emphasis.

"You're so childish Naruto-kun," she says and goes back to eating her meal.

The blonde laughs good heartedly and kisses her temple. "But you like that childishness, ne?"

When she blushes and avoids his gaze he dives in and glops her into a hug. "Na-Naruto-kun?!"

"You're so cute Hinata-chan!"

* * *

"He looks dead," the ever straight forward Sai says as he scrutinized the raven head.

Sasuke stares lifelessly at his only hand, the scen of her getting stolen from him replays in his head like a broken tape. If only he was stronger, if only he had protected her like he promised. Oh, the promise. He has once again broken it. Broken it like the arm he is missing. He feels a part of him missing, like a missing puzzle piece that can never be found. Her laughter, her smile, her ever bright virdian eyes full of innocence and wonder, gone, stolen, taken from him.

Why?

Why do people he love disappear from him? His parents are dead and gone from this world, he can never gain his father's approval or eat his mother's cooking ever again. His brother is dying or is already dead from an illness and he had to be alone to bear so much weight. His clan, the old lady who gives him extra sweets when he goes to her shop, the old uncle who ruffles his hair every time he sees him and Itachi's beloved, Izumi who despites being treated rudely by him still offers him encouragement and left over dangos, gone too. They were all gone, they all left him alone.

"I wouldn't say dead, more like a zombie," Naruto comments.

"I don't think we should we talking about this in front of him," the Hyuga heiress says.

"I don't think he gives a damn anyway," Shikamaru says and a sigh follows.

He decides to get rid of them by telling them that he was tired, so they all left in silence, all but Gaara who lingers. He gives the Uchiha a once over before commenting on how pathetic he looks. He was ignored and Gaara shakes his head in disappointment before disappearing behind the closed door.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata are currently on their way to the book store which the Akatsuki work in, Akatsuki's Books. Naruto shudders at the thought of entering a book store and Hinata tries her best to console him and tells him that books won't bite. He gives her a sheepish grin and they both share a laugh.

Both pause at the entrance and Hinata is reminded of her first time here with Ino and how upset Sakura was for being kept in the dark. She tells Naruto of her now distant memory and let's a sad smile cross her face. Naruto gives her a sad smile of his own and voices how much he misses having their pink hair friend around, he is then reminded of their current task and bekons Hinata to enter the store first, both ignoring the 'Closed' sign. They had to do this for Sasuke's own good.

They are met with silence once they enter and both teens wonder where the usually rowdy bunch were. Hinata suggest that they check the break room, and they did. They are once again met with absolute silence and is greeted by no one. Their curiousity intensifies and Naruto tells her to wait in the break room while he goes 'investigate'. The pearl eyed teen agrees with a hesitant nod and Naruto wonders further into the book store.

Books surrounded practically every inch of the store, books from novels to manga you name it. He catches a slight movement from the corner of his eye and quickly goes after it. He chases it until he reaches a dead end, but it was already gone. He scratches the back of his head in confusion and turns to return to the break room.

Hinata waits for his arrival on one of the empty chairs. He asks her if she found anything relating to the Akatsuki's sudden disappearance and she shakes her head and tells him that she came up empty. The blonde gives a defeated sigh and Hinata pats him on the shoulder reasuringly.

"Don't you think it's odd that they would suddenly disappear just like that?" She questions with a hint of suspicion in her tone.

"Vacation?" Naruto adds with a shrug and Hinata smiles, she then shakes her head.

"I don't think so, Naruto-kun," she says to him.

"Hm..." he hums and crosses his arms to think. "It's also weird that they would leave this place just like that. I mean the doors to this place aren't locked," he says with furrowed eyebrows.

Hinata sighs. "Well, I think we should leave for now, nothing will happen if we just stand around and ponder about this."

Naruto agrees with a nod and both teens make their way out of the store, the blonde pausing to look for any signs of that suspicious figure. He purses his lips when he finds nothing and shuts the door lightly.

He pulls his jacket closer and adjusts the red scarf around his neck, the very red scarf that was hand knited by Hinata herself. Hinata had a cream coloured sweater on accompanied by a red and blue checkered scraf that matched her skirt and black coloured leggings, Naruto would have already glomped her if it were not for the spectators that would follow after. He blushes at the thought and hides his face into his scarf.

"Are you two looking for the people who work here?" They hear an old lady question them. They face her to acknowledge her, she looked no older than fifty.

"Yes, we are. Do you happen to know what happened to them?" Hinata questions softly.

"The manager of the store, he told me they were going to sell this place and just left the key with me, said they would leave it to me and didn't even want the money for themselves. I know I work in the shop next to them and all and offer them sweets from time to time, but ain't he just being irresponsoble for leaving everything to me?" The old lady says with a huff.

Naruto and Hinata share a look. "Did they tell you where they were going?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"I see...thank you so much for the information ma'am," the dark haired teen said with a bow.

"Oh, you're welcome dear," the old lady says with a wrinkled smile.

"So what are you gonna' do with the book store, granny?" Naruto questions in that oh so friendly tone of his as the lady directs her attention to him.

"Well, I plan to donate half of the books and sell the other half, then I'll sell the whole shop itself," she says and glances to the empty store. "Although, I do feel guilty for keeping money that doesn't belong to me...perhaps I could donate the money as well?"

"You could donate half and keep the rest," Hinata suggests.

"I'll think about it," she says with another wrinkled smile. "It was nice meeting you two." She says with a final wave and disappears i to the sweets shop next to the book store.

Silence crossed between the two and Naruto looks back into the glass panels that displays the shop and the books in it.

Such a waste.

* * *

They had moved him into a differant ward of the hospital, the mental ward. Why? Because he trashed his previous room and nearly strangled the life out of a nurse. He thinks it was a ridiculous reason and his friends were just being over dramatic, I mean the nurse is still alive is she not? They also thought he was seeing 'things' and those 'things' refer to Sakura. Well, he was most definitely not seeing 'things'! They were they blind ones, how could they not see her when she was right in front of them?

She was even standing right in front of him now, her smile still bright and cheerful as per usual. He sees her opening her mouth to say something, it moves but no words come out of it, not even a sound. He strains his ears to at least get to hear her voice once again, but he still hears nothing. She laughs and he wants to hear it, her laughter, but he can't and he wonders why.

"What are you saying?"

She continues talking but he still can't catch a word of it.

"Sakura?"

She does not acknowledge him but continues to talk and laugh, still inaudible.

He snaps.

"What's wrong with you?! WHY ARE YOU IGNORING ME?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?! WHA- Are-are you sick? You should go see a doctor, yeah, they can help," he says, hysteria clinging on to every word.

It was when she turns to leave that he starts to panic.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! DON'T LEAVE ME! Don't...leave me alone again..." he still clings on to the belief that she was here, right in front of him. He wants to belive that she never left his side, never got stolen from him.

He was alone again.

* * *

"He's getting worse by the day," Naruto says as he watches his friend through the glass. It hurt to his best friend like this, suffering from past wounds and newly opened ones. His fists clenches tightly until it draws blood.

Kakashi places a comforting hand on the blonde's shoulder, a sympathetic look directed towards the raven head through the glass. Naruto shifts from one foot to the other and once again stifles a sob in front of his former mentor. He recalls Kakashi telling him many times to drop the 'sensei' and just call him Kakashi, but he can never find it in himself to do that. To him Kakashi-sensei will always be Kakashi-sensei, just like how Sasuke will always be his best friend.

He remembers the times where they would always argue over the littlest of things and how extreme their arguments could get and turn into fist fights. Like that time when he threw Sasuke into a big fountain near the village square and how Sasuke threw him into an old lady's fruit stall. That was when Sakura had arrived and when he finally got to see her after so long. He silently smiles at the fond memory, he did not think that they will be able to ever have such times again.

* * *

Minato's disapproving stare iced the whole room, Naruto had played witness to how scary his father was when he was in a foul mood on several ocassions, this was no different. In fact, his father's current subject of disagreement had his seal of approval as well as the whole room's too. And to think that the subject of disagreement itself was just standing there, unfazed.

"Come again, Orochimaru?" His father's stern voice echoed throughout the silent room.

Said man simply sent the Hokage a smirk. "You know very well what I've said."

"Yes, but it was so rediculous that I've come to think that you have gone mad," he replied. "Not that you aren't already mad," he added as his frown deepened, totally overshadowing his once kind and fair demeanor.

The Snake Sage chuckles and puts his left hand on his hip while shifting his weight on to his right leg. "My, my, little Minato thinks he knows best, doesn't need anyone's advise now that he is Hokage."

"I will not fall for your taunt, Orochimaru," his father's voice, still strong and steady makes Orochimaru's smug demeanor flatter and Naruto couldn't be anymore proud to have him as his father.

A sigh escapes the Sage's lips and his mood shifts from smug to bored. "I said that I've sent Kabuto over to be a double agent for us...mostly me of course," he says so lightheartedly that Naruto spots his father's eye twitch out of irritation.

"And who gave you the right to do so?" He feels his father's mood worsen considerably and he takes a step behind.

"Obviously myself. I wouldn't be that stupid to ask your permission knowing that I would only get rejected."

"Have you not considered the risks and consequences that would befall?!"

"Of course! Otherwise I wouldn't have sent him in the first place!" He says matter-of-factly.

"Do you know what you have done?! Thanks to that your pupil has gone mental and Madara-"

"They would have continued attacking us until they got their way anyway. Who knows that their advances might become more dangerous? What if more people end up dying? Have you ever thought of that, _Hokage-sama_? Letting them do what they want for now is safer then waiting until they drop a large bomb on us. We'd probably be sitting ducks by then. And Sasuke? He'll get over it...eventually."

Silent furry, Naruto noted, was never a good sign and yet his father manages to surpass those feelings. Naruto looks at his father in a new yet foreign light. He sees how tightly his father's fists are clenched and he knows that Orochimaru has made a point, no matter how he would like to argue with it.

"Kabuto is there 'assisting' them, I have him update me every twenty-four hours. And if you're worried for that pink headed brat then she's fine, they haven't made a move yet. As for that Obito fellow, his actions are now a mystery, not even Kabuto could crack him," Orochimaru says, his smug demeanor back and going full-force.

"You-" Jiraya starts, making Naruto jump upon suddenly hearing his voice. "You could have at least had the decency to inform us beforehand," he says with an unreadable expression.

"I find it quite a waste of time, I would have to try and persue you all and I didn't quite like that idea, much less think of it as a troublesome act," Orochimaru replies, this time staring at his nails as he did so. He then glances at Minato, who has a troubled expression and smirks in delight. "Do I sense an apology, _Hokage-sama_?" He questions and Naruto notices his father's clenched fist shaking in furry.

Minato once again surprises him by surpassing his anger and instead lets out a defeated sigh. "Apologies, Orochimaru. What you've done is most appropriate in this situation, I give you my thanks as well as my gratitude," Minato says, his expression the total opposite of his words.

Orochimaru accepts the apology, albeit the displeased look on his face and announces his leaves. Naruto finally glances over to Tsunade, who was strangely quiet throughout this whole dispute, she was even silent now. He contemplates on asking her about her behaviour and decided against it, since she looks more than ready to snap a persons neck in half. He instead glances to his father, who seems to have ruined his stress ball as he glances over to his son and gives him a warm smile. Naruto returns the warm smile with a nervous one and glances over to his currrent mentor, Jiraya, who seems the most clam in the room.

He tries lightening up the room by asking about the Frog Sage's day, but all he got was him telling the tales of his hot spring visit. Naruto cringes when he notices Tsunade's mood worsening with each word Jiraya says and he asks him to shut up. Jiraya gives him a confused look and the blonde shruggs.

What a tough crowd to please.

* * *

"Danzo is missing," Sai says to the grouo of people surrounding him.

Naruto is the first to react. "Well, where is he then?"

"Naruto he'smissing, _missing-_as in he cannot be found," he replies with a frown.

Naruto's eyebrows furrow in thought. "Well isn't his disappearance...convenient..."

"I beg to differ, Naruto," Neji retorts with a scowl. "His disappearance is anything but convenient..."

"It's troublesome," Shikamaru says as he tilts his head back and yawn. "I mean, who knows what he's planning."

"He has been inactive...perhaps something has happened to him?" Sai ponders in a low murmur.

"Doesn't the reincarnation spell need a living host?" Naruto wonders out loudly.

A pause.

The room now filled with wide eyed teens stare back at their blonde friend.

Neji speaks. "He wouldn't..."

"We have no proof-" Sai says and gets cut off by Shikamaru.

"That doesn't mean it isn't a possible scenario."

"Wait, so you guys are saying that they used Danzo as a living host to reincarnate Uchiha Madara?!"

"...Yes. But we have no confirmation," Neji states dryly and flicks a stray hair out of his face.

"Perhaps Orochimaru knows something..." Sai says lowly.

"Possibly..." Shikamaru says and stands from his seat. "Let's go find out, shall we?"

* * *

_Twinkle twinkle little star._

Sakura shuts her eyes tightly and turns to her side.

_How I wonder what you are._

A tear slides down her face and she roughly wipes it away.

_Up above the world so high._

A loud hiccup escapes her followed by a sob.

_Like a diamond in the sky._

She lets the tears fall and does not try to stop them anymore.

_Twinkle twinkle little star._

"How I wonder what you are..." she sings softly albeit her shaky voice.

* * *

"He's not eating again," a nurse informs him in that robotic tone nurses usually use when they are tired or stressed.

He checks the ticking clock hung on the wall from across the room, it reads nine thirty. Visiting hours end at ten, he could request an over night stay if he wanted too. He glances through the glass and into the room where his best friend laid, laying on the floor and staring at the ceilling. He should, for Sasuke's sake and possibly sanity, he wanted to talk to him anyway. Although a little voice in the back of his head tells him not to or he will regret it once rumours start, or was that just Kurama making fun of him?

He mentally gives himself a reasuring pat on the back and turns to face the the nurse who was muffling a yawn with her hand. He first thanks her for looking after Sasuke and apologizes for the inconvenience, then he requests her to allow him to stay over night to look after his friend and once again apologizes for the inconvenience and his sudden request. The nurse simply gives him a once over and opens her mouth to say something, but closes it suddenly as if she changed her mind. She then shakes her head and waves off his apology and tells him that it was her job, later adding that she doesn't mind some bromance once in awhile.

Naruto cringes at her misinterpretation and forces himself not deny her declaration and offend her by accident. He thanks her and she grunts in reply before shuting the door close. The blonde releases a tired sigh and walks over to the glass panel that separates both he and Sasuke, dim hospital lights illuminating parts of his face while shadows danced across the other parts on his face. The blonde lightly knocks on the glass, gaining the raven head's attention as he slowly shifts his gaze from the ceilling to him.

Sasuke narrows his eyes in displeasure and Naruto returns it with a grin and his middle finger. The raven head mouths 'fuck you' and the blonde lowers his finger and mouths to the raven head that he is comining in. He doesn't wait for a reply heads to door that leads to Sasuke's room and opens it with magic, which is code name for picking the lock with a paper clip.

He enters just in time to see Sasuke sitting up and leaning against the soft wall, his right hand restrained by the straitjacket while the right side stayed hollow. Naruto sits across from him and smirks. "Comfortable, Sasuke?"

The raven head simply grunts and glares at him.

"Heard you weren't eating properly," he says and picks at his nails.

Sasuke grunts again, still glaring.

"I know, hospital food. Horrible," he says and stretches out his crossed legs.

"I will eat if they take this off me," Sasuke growls lowly.

"No can do, teme. Right now people think you're a little...um...wrong in the head somewhere."

"I'm perfectly fine," he says.

Naruto shruggs. "You know she's gone, right? Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm upset about it too...we all are."

Sasuke chuckles and Naruto snaps his head towards him. "I don't care about her...not anymore."

Naruto stares at him, he stares at him long and hard. Did he hear right? How could he just say that so nonchalantly after all they have been through? Doen't he love her? It had been so long since he saw Sasuke so happy. Happy because Sakura makes him happy. Why doesn't he see that?!

It was his turn to glare this time. "Why?"

"She left me."

"DAMN IT, SASUKE!" He yells and catches himself, this was a hospital and he should not be screaming. His fist clenches tightly and he takes a deep breath to calm himself. "You know Sasuke, you're actually more of an idiot than me," he says menacingly.

Both teens glare at each other. "You know she loves you, right?"

He grunts.

"And _you _love her," he states slowly and watches for his friend's reaction.

He doesn't answer and instead hardens his glare.

"Wake up, Sasuke. This is reality, you either face it or you don't. Stop being such a drama queen," Naruto grumbles and gets up, exiting the room and locking it back up before plopping down on a couch and glaring through the glass panel where Sasuke sat, unmoving.

"Tch, idiot..."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**A/N: If anyone is going to say anything about an OOC Sasuke then hear this out. Imagine putting yourself in his shoes, losing all your loved ones and being left alone. How would that make you feel? I would have gone insane honestly... Anyway, thanks for the reviews, follows and favourites. We are coming to an end soon, thanks for bearing with me. Hoped you enjoyed reading it and review if you have the time. (^_^)/**

**-Y**


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